Out of the Asylum
by HappySlasher
Summary: "Home sweet home, right?" Following the events of "In the Asylum". Ambrolleigns slash.
1. Life Out of The Asylum

Well here we are! Finally out! Thanks for everyone who is still with me!^^

**Disclaimer: I don't own anybody!**

Life Out of the Asylum

* * *

"Home sweet home, right?"

Dean Ambrose examined the quaint little home from the inside out. At first glance it looked like a rather expensive two-story home, much more than either men should've been able to afford. He noticed the modern look, the almost motherly décor, and the little signs that both men had blended their belongings together to create the place. He was curious as to which of them tended to the grass and garden out front, though. Maybe there was a landscaper, he thought, but even more distracting was the fact that they were in a way too-friendly looking suburban area. It just seemed like the kind of place Bo would live. Ambrose hadn't even know about this cul-de-sac so close. Guess that's what happens when you're trapped for six years.

Ambrose sighed and threw his bags down in the floor. This was his new prison, huh? Well, at least they probably had cable. He turned to his captors with anticipation. "So what now? I'm crashing on the couch until I rehab?"

Seth and Roman almost nervously stood by the door and allowed Dean to inspect the place since they had arrived. From their spots, they just watched. Rollins, feeling Dean was done exploring on his own, grabbed a bag off the floor and guided the man. "This house is a bit narrow but it's kind of spacious and it's built up."

The patient scoffed. "What?"

"I meant you didn't look everywhere. There's an upstairs, an attic…" Seth stopped as he approached a door in the kitchen,

"A basement?" Ambrose looked the doorway over, surprised it didn't have more of a lock to it. Definitely not as secure as in his last staying place. "You got me living in a dungeon?" He didn't wait for an answer, barging down the steps. "There better at least be a window down here?" The snarky remark hadn't completely left the man's mouth before he shut up completely.

Beautiful. The basement was absolutely gorgeous.

Seth's idea of narrow and the world's idea must have been worlds apart. Dean loved the black, blue, and gray color scheme that was evident throughout the whole room. His king-sized bed, with an unmanly number of throw pillows on it, matched the large round chair that sat beside it on the side where the nightstand wasn't. There was a row of black leather furniture around the forty inch television hung above a fireplace: love seat, sectional, couch. There was even a glass coffee table between the furniture and the fireplace. Still finding there was more space, Dean looked further and found a pool table occupying the area. Sleek and new. Gorgeous. The patient couldn't keep his jaw from dropping, too shocked to even hide his shock.

"It's small, I know, but I figure you'll be able to make it." Rollins handed Dean his bag and walked around, rearranging some things. "It doesn't have a bathroom so you'll have to go upstairs on the main floor. So, sorry about that."

Seeing Dean hadn't moved, Roman took his opportunity to speak. He dropped the bag he carried and moved to whisper to Ambrose. "That's how I was when I first came down here too. You might want to close your mouth though."

Dean growled to the bigger man, snapping back to reality because of the closeness. He shrugged the man off and moved to flop on his bed. "Sure it's not bad, but a cage is a cage no matter how you dress it." He spoke the words with a certain malice but couldn't deny that this had to be the softest bed he'd ever lied in. It was like laying on a _cloud_.

"Dean? Dean?" The man shook his eyes open, realizing he'd been so wrapped up in the comfort that he'd forgotten where he was. He turned to Rollins as the man stood over him.

"What?"

"At least the cage door is open here." Dean scoffed and rolled over with his face in the bed. No use forcing it, Seth thought with a sigh. Dean would get acclimated after a while. At least he hoped. "So there's a lot we have to discuss; how things will work when we're out, what you can do around the house, all that. But, we'll have to do that a little later. Roman and I have a few more things to pick up and it might take all day. Still, the fridge is open, the TV remote is right above the fireplace, and there's new clothes in the drawers if you want to bathe."

Eyes drifting shut, Ambrose taunted. "You think I'll actually stay here? I'll take off as soon as I get the chance."

"Or you could take a nap like you seem to be on the way to doing anyway." Roman ran a hand down Dean's face, getting him to close his eyes. "Stay here, please."

"Whatever. It'll only be sweeter if I leave when you're here." Ambrose waited until his captors left, letting the sound of the door slamming be his guide. Alone again, but he didn't feel lonely. Not like in the cold walls of the asylum. This was different, way different; relaxing even. He rolled over to scout out his next move, choosing to jump to his feet and wander about.

Stepping out of the basement and directly into the kitchen, Ambrose checked the all the cabinets just keeping inventory of what they had. He expected good meals every night with all the pots and pans. Next he searched the fridge, stealing a carton of milk from it and continuing his deeper examination. The home was posh but none too flashy. It was just right. Pictures hung on the wall, knickknacks here and there: Seth and Roman set off a good bit of feng shui going. Dean made it his business to find the attic and when he did, it kind of made him chuckle. Seth's office here looked just like his old one with a few extra pieces of furniture. Old habits, he supposed. There was another well decorated room, a guest bedroom maybe and right across was the master bedroom. That one was locked. Weird. Ambrose just shook it off as nothing and made his way back to the basement. Three wall photos in particular stopped him, however.

The first was a picture of Seth in his early teenage years. The guy was adorable but the more shocking aspect was who else was in the picture; Hunter Helmsley and Stephanie McMahon. Family. They looked like a family. Well, if that was true, it would explain the lavish home but more importantly how the C.O.O gave in to this little request for Dean's release. He'd have to investigate that.

The second picture was one of Roman when he was maybe sixteen. Even then he was still pretty big but all that glorious hair was gone and replaced with a low cut. He looked like he probably took awkward yearbook photos. It was enough to make Ambrose snicker at the thought; the big nurse battling and losing against puberty.

The last picture was the one that took him by surprise most. It was one he hadn't even known they took. Angled with Seth in front holding the camera, it was a photo of all three of them. He studied it for a clue and suddenly noticed the jacket he was wearing. The day they went out on his birthday, that's when Rollins took it. Huh. He hadn't even noticed. Dean and Roman weren't even looking in the camera, seemingly in the mist of conversation.

For moments Dean stared, just recounting how joyous that morning was. He felt like a completely different person experienced the whole thing though. He didn't feel like it was really him. It was even weirder than the locked door upstairs. Ah, he wasn't going to waste too much time on it. It was just a stupid picture. It didn't mean anything. And neither did the welcoming feeling in the home. This was still a cage.

Dean found that his feet directed him back down to the basement before he knew it. He plopped down on the bed again and figured he would take that offered nap. It was a cage but at least the cage had a soft bed. Snuggling down, Ambrose closed his eyes and began to drift in and out.

It wasn't what he wanted but he would make the best of living here.

* * *

So for those who are still with me, this is where we are! Dean and Seth and Roman are finally living together :D Bring on the escapades!


	2. Purpose Out of The Asylum

Purpose Out of the Asylum

* * *

Dean rolled over, feeling the bed dip beside him. He'd wondered when he fell asleep as he rubbed his eyes. And if the drool dried up on his chin was any indication, he'd been sleep for quite some time. Trying to regain some false sense of alertness, he immediately jerked up to a seated position, giving himself a headache and choosing to lie back down. He could forget the façade for now.

"Well rested? Slobber usually means that," Roman joked from his spot on the bed's edge.

"Shut up," The auburn-haired man groaned only making Reigns chuckle and lie back on the bed as well. Dean jerked up again in stupefaction, ready to reprimand the other for making himself comfortable but the headache caused the same result. He lied back with an aggravated huff. "Move."

Roman made himself more comfortable, kicking his shoes off and grabbing a pillow. "Seth bought you some stuff."

"Like what? A collar with my name on it?" Ambrose scoffed.

Reigns snickered to himself mostly. "No, there's no collar."

"Right. I'm just an experiment. I'm not good enough for a collar."

"That's not it." Sitting up into a stretch, Roman grabbed some bags from the floor, "There just weren't any in your size." He teased light-heartedly, contrasting the hate he was receiving from the other man. "He just bought you some basic stuff, things to call your own. Dinner's in ten." With the last word, Roman left Dean to the bags as he went upstairs.

"Great. Dinner." The sarcastic remark was unheard by anyone but Dean himself so he let it go. Besides, he had to see what the "basic stuff" was. _Probably tube socks_, he snickered to himself and moved closer to the bags, his jaw dropping at the very first item he saw. A laptop. A brand spanking new laptop. Upon further inspection, Ambrose also took notice to the cell phone still in its box. Fancy new headphones, really nice shirts, jeans and slacks, and new shoes: all of it in the gift bags he received.

There was no way Seth was getting this stuff on his pay. Maybe getting the trinkets in increments would've been believable but to get all of them at once had to be above his pay grade. Even if Roman pitched in, Dean couldn't fathom how they could afford all the new things. That would be a new investigation of its own. Ambrose filed it in the back of his mind and decided to just accept it for now. It was free stuff after all.

He opened and began to fool around with all his gifts before a rather overwhelming aroma began to take hold of his senses. Food. Good food. Really good food. It had been a long time since he smelled that and man, it was heavenly right about now. Much to his own surprise, Dean's feet carried him up the stairs to the kitchen, the source of the delectable smell.

He found himself standing over the stove before he knew it. And this was actual food. Actual food. Seemingly expensive food too, the fancy stuff.

As if reading his mind, Seth walked up behind Dean. "I hope a homemade vegetarian lasagna suits your taste."

"I'm a meat eater," he mumbled with light distaste. The words weren't meant to mean anything; he was a food lover above all else. Besides, his mind was somewhere else, caught between the delicious food and the delicious way Seth's ponytail sat high and unreasonably cute above his neck.

Seth chuckled and began to untie the black apron he wore. "Well a man shouldn't live off meat alone."

"Says you." Coming back to himself, Ambrose scoffed at the item in Seth's hands. "You look like an apron guy."

"It's actually mine." Roman interrupted, grabbing a pitcher of water and a few cups before going back into the dining room. The look he gave dared Dean to say something but then he turned his anger towards Seth. "I'm not gonna wait too much longer for this meal. You have thirty seconds." That said, the bigger man went back into the dining room.

Skeptically Ambrose looked over to Rollins. "What's his problem?"

Sighing with a bit of a chuckle, the man picked up his dish. "It seems you're not the only one cranky about the lack of meat that will be at the table." Ignoring the snickers from Dean, Seth nudged the other along and through the doors.

The entire dinner was eaten with silence from Ambrose, but Seth and Roman kept the conversation between themselves. They'd been talking about the way to conduct business from home; scheduling conflicts and transportation for some of the patients they treated. It sounded tedious in Dean's opinion but he was more focused on eating real food again. It was meatless but that didn't make it any less satisfying. He picked up on a few names, old ones he knew and others he hoped to never meet. Roman and Seth always seemed to get assigned the real basket cases—not including himself of course. Because he was fine by his standards.

"So I'll pick up Aj for her session with you next week in the morning," Roman saved the date in his phone. "But you have to take her back and pick up my afternoon appointment."

Seth scrapped around his plate in thought. "You'll have to drive them back to the institution. I hate driving at night around here. Some of those back roads don't have enough light."

"Fine with me as long as you chip in gas money." Roman chuckled and stood from the table, taking his plate to the kitchen.

Seth snorted out a mumbled "yeah right" before turning back to Ambrose who was reaching back in the lasagna dish for a third time. "Geez, Ambrose, maybe you should give your plate time to breathe. Slow down. That foods not going anywhere."

Grumbling, Dean went back to his plate, keeping his eyes on Rollins. "Well neither am I so I guess that makes two of us."

The response drew a sigh from Rollins but a smile followed. Digging in his pocket, Seth dropped some business cards by Dean's plate. "Well when we help you find a job maybe you won't feel so trapped, huh?" He picked at his fork tiredly, obviously having had a long day. "You like your new stuff?" No answer. "We figured you might like your own PC for whatever." Still no response. "Aj says she knows it's only been like a day but she misses you." Dean scarfed down more food so Seth stood in defeat with his own plate. "Just sit your plate in the sink when you're done. Roman likes to clean the kitchen in the middle of the night for some reason." The doctor stood up and exited the dining room as well, leaving Ambrose to himself.

Dean sat a few minutes longer, just thinking about all he'd heard, before he picked up the cards left behind. All classy jobs and people it seemed like. Assistant this, manager that; Seth and Roman were serious about him getting a job. Too bad he probably wasn't too qualified for most. Being institutionalized for some years didn't exactly bode well either. Hmm…a few were interesting. Others weren't. Wait. Dean stopped his shifting immediately. One card in particular sparked his interest on name alone.

_NEXT: Preparing You for a Better Future_

_Halfway House and Weekly Youth Mentoring Program_

_General Manager and Head Mentor: Dr. William Regal_

He could've doubted the name's familiarity, the true identity, had the man's picture not been on the card. But it was and there was no doubting who this was. Immediately Dean started running the memories he still had, planning the revenge he conjured all those years ago when Regal was his doctor in the asylum. He found his hands shaking, whether with anger or a morbid excitement he wasn't sure. Either way, an evil grin graced his face as he settled his mind on a plan of action. Seth and Roman were surely going to regret giving him this card. Considering his intentions, Dean knew there wouldn't be a chance at another asylum; there would be no saving grace from his execution. If he got caught, of course.

:::

Seth sat up against the headboard of the bed, looking over the card Dean insisted on him calling before he went to bed. It was already rather suspicious how urgent Ambrose was about getting the card to Seth considering how cold he was at dinner. Then there was something was so vaguely familiar about the name. William Regal. Maybe he was just well known throughout the practice, Rollins just couldn't put his finger on it. He did however, recognize the address on the halfway house. "Hey, Roman?"

The big man muted the television and rolled over tiredly, "What's up?"

"This the same place we went to on Dean's birthday, isn't it?" Seth showed the other waiting confirmation and it came rather quickly.

"Sure is. Hm." Reigns rolled back over and shut his eyes. "Why?" The question was held over the course of a yawn.

Rollins scanned the card again, something not sitting right with him. "Dean wants to work there."

"Okay, let him. What are you so worried about?" Roman could feel the distress setting in from Seth so he sighed out reassuringly. "Wasn't his friend there last time? Crowe? He probably just wants to be around the guy. And you know how Dean is, he's got too much pride to actually come out and say it." Turning back over to look at the doctor, Reigns rubbed his back. "Call it in the morning and just get some sleep for now, please."

Roman said please but it was command, only proven further by the man turning the bedside light out and tugging Seth to lie down. He even plucked the card from the smaller man's hands to place on the nightstand. Given the way Roman demanded his slumber, Seth thought it better to comply. He'd get to think about this further in the morning and some sleep would hopefully jog his memory on who exactly Dr. Regal was.

:::

Two weeks passed rather quickly and the three already established a routine. Seth would wake everyone up at six before going to his office and checking his emails. Roman would hog the bathroom for twenty or so minutes and then jump on making breakfast. Dean would roll out of bed twenty minutes after Seth woke him and put the coffee on, making sure to hassle Roman about breakfast before he went to the bathroom. It didn't take more than ten minutes for Ambrose to finish in the restroom and Seth always finished his morning office work in time to go in next. While Rollins primped, Dean and Roman ate and got dressed. By the time they finished dressing, Seth rose from the bathroom and went to the kitchen where they'd all meet up. Roman said his goodbyes to each as he took some coffee for work and, Dean sat with Seth at the table while the man ate. Some days he stared into his coffee but lately he'd taken to questioning Seth about what he could and couldn't do around the house.

"So if I want to go to the skate park down the street?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Why would you even want to, Dean?"

Ambrose shrugged in emphasis. "I don't know. Smoke a cigarette?"

Moving from the table to the kitchen Seth chuckled to himself. At least the guy was seemingly more comfortable and warming up to them. "You can smoke a cigarette outside without going all the way to the park."

"Says you." Ambrose picked up his coffee mug and followed the other, sitting at the bar top while Seth cleaned his dishes. He tapped his cup impatiently before clearing his throat. "So did you, uh, talk to the people at the halfway house yet? It's been a couple days."

Rollins dried his plate and turned to Dean, folding his arms and leaning against the counter himself. "Depends. Who did you want me to talk to?"

Ambrose shrugged again, feigning a disinterest. "I don't know. They guy on the card? A secretary?"

"Well," Seth looked for the words, playing along with the façade. "I did talk to someone." The false lack of interest from Ambrose washed away and he anticipated the next words, gripping his mug just so. It was little movements that gave him away, things Seth noticed from years of observation. "I told them about how you'd be willing to do something small, not too big but they weren't sure if they had positions open. We talked for a couple hours actually." The doctor let the uncertainty hang before smiling and leaning on the bar top near Dean. "They say they want you to come in and interview tomorrow."

It was obvious that Ambrose was trying to keep from smiling, a weird angry smirk taking over his face. Teasingly, Seth mimicked the look and got close to Dean's face. "I bet you want a thank you, right?" Dean said while he pushed forward aggressively but playfully, bumping his nose with Seth's. "Ain't gonna happen. You owe me this."

Seth took the opportunity to snatch Dean's coffee mug before leaning back on his counter top away from Ambrose. He ignored the protest and continued. "Yeah, well Roman convinced me that at least Solomon would be appreciative."

Dean's face showed little recognition at the name, scrunching up. "Who?"

"Crowe. Solomon Crowe." Seth added, finding it extremely odd that Dean didn't react still. "You're best friend. That's why you want to work at the house anyway, right? To be able to hang out with Solomon?"

Immediately, Ambrose straightened up and chuckled in agreement. So he was right: Seth didn't remember Regal. That made his plan even more perfect. "Oh, Sami! Right, right." He played along with the idea and figured it a good time to capitalize on the assumption. "I'm still not used to the whole 'Solomon' thing but yeah. It'll be great, like revisiting my past." The double meaning only made Dean's smile more genuine.

"Yeah." The unsettling feeling returned to Seth but he tried to dismiss it. It could've been an innocent mental slip but something told him otherwise. Before he was able to probe the information, the jingling of keys alerted him to the door.

"Aj is in your office! I'm leaving now! I'll see you and Dean later!" Roman's voice declared his presence and the slamming of the door signaled his departure.

"Can't keep a patient waiting, doc." Dean made haste to drop the subject all together and head to Seth's office. He'd made it his job to be Rollin's personal assistant for the time being. Not that he was really interested in helping the guy but, he was a tad bit nosy admittedly and the patients had interesting stories. Though Ambrose wasn't so sure he'd be getting too many more interesting than those from Aj.

The morning session passed rather quickly it seemed, and soon there was a knock on the office door. Dean moved to the door to allow Seth the chance to wrap up his note taking but he couldn't stop the lump caught in his throat when he opened it.

"Hey Dean," Roman hurriedly greeted with a smile but out of breath. "Can you tell Seth—" He looked around Dean to catch Seth's gaze and yelling back. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Please be on time picking up my appointment. He gets antsy when it comes to time."

Seth gave a thumbs up but stopped Reigns midway as he was leaving. "Why didn't you shower at the gym?"

"I don't like how the guys in there look at me." Seth chuckled in understanding and sent the man away but Dean stood there for a moment processing the image stuck in his head. It had been a long time since he worked out with Roman and honestly he forgot just how much he enjoyed the aesthetic. The form fitting tank top, the shorts that hugged in all the right places, the post-workout mess that became of Reign's hair, and the strong lingering smell of testosterone: all things Dean forgot he loved. His eyes followed down the hall to where he saw Roman disappear, tempted to join the other in the shower himself.

"Guys at the gym? Maybe he should be more worried about how you're looking at him." Dean turned at the slight nudge from Aj behind him, slowly turning down his imagination enough to focus. "I think you might be drooling there, Deano."

Ambrose mockingly laughed at the smirk on her face but turned to wipe his mouth just in case. "Isn't it time for you to go?"

Seth came behind nudging both next. "That it is, Dean. Now let's go, Aj." With his wallet and car keys in hand, Rollins pushed girl towards the door. "Nurse Paige is waiting for you."

"Ugh." Aj groaned exaggeratedly causing a snicker from Ambrose.

"New nurse?" Patient asked.

"Yeah. Tamina got assigned to a new patient and so Aj is upset and wants to give her a hard time."

Aj rolled her eyes. "Please, the girl belongs at that institution more than I do. I can't do crazy."

Dean studied the girl before snorting out a laugh in Seth's direction. "Liar. She loves crazy." Loving the interesting turn in conversation, Ambrose had to probe the situation further. "Let me guess, is she like some Goth chick or something? Like dark hair and dark eyes and everything." Seth nodded in agreement, loving the blush Aj attempted to suppress. "Watch in another week or two, she'll be all over that nurse. I guarantee it."

"Isn't it time to go?" The female wasted no more words, grabbing Seth and rushing to leave the uncomfortable situation. Seth didn't even get to say his farewells, Aj forced him away so fast.

Dean took the time to revel in the amusement but went back to his reality when he heard footsteps from down the hall. Right. Roman was here. Ambrose peaked around the corner to catch a glimpse of Roman coming from the bathroom in his towel and he found himself staring again. The house may have been a prison but at least it appealed to some esthetics.

Roman turned to catch glances with the man, giving a wave before going into his room to get dressed. Under different circumstances that would have been an invitation but Ambrose chose not to act on his instinct, and instead went down to his room in the basement. He could use a nap—or two—whatever it took to get him closer to his job interview and ultimately his number one priority: revenge.

* * *

So I know it has been MONTHS but this semester has been extremely hectic and luckily now it's over! So if any reader is still out there, I'll be working on my stories :) Thanks for continuing to read, my loves. I hope you guys will enjoy where I'm going to take this!


	3. Confusion Out of the Asylum

Confusion Out of the Asylum

* * *

The halfway house looked much better than it did the first time he visited. No wallpaper peeling, no holes, and new furniture: the community must've finally caved in on giving up an investment.

"Mr. Ambrose?" The receptionist met him at the office door with a handshake, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. He flashed a grin to the young lady as he shook her hand, trying to be polite but also remember the last time he ran into a girl that wasn't from the asylum. Ah, the things he missed. The woman took the smile as confirmation of his identity and ushered him along to a lou111nge area. "Dr. Regal is wrapping it up with an appointment now but he'll be right with you."

Dean didn't mind at all, thanking the young woman and skimming through magazines stacked on a coffee table. Something about the wait made the entire plan seem that much more delightful.

Ambrose thought about taking many things with him to the interview: handcuffs for when Regal tried to run from him; a lighter and some gasoline because no one ever expects arson; maybe even a simple fork because he knew how to do a sizeable amount of damage. But in the end, his indecision got the best of him, leaving him empty handed. It was fine however, he was resourceful.

"Dr. Regal will see you now."

Ambrose jumped to his feet at the words and hastily made his way inside William's office, only more pleased that the receptionist closed the door behind him. As Dean entered the office, the other man was still on his phone call, his back to Ambrose. So unsuspecting. Looking around, he spotted some bottles of wine on a stand close to him and suddenly he came up with a different plan. What's more insulting than taking a pompous man out with his own vintage? Ambrose quietly grabbed the first one off the shelf and held it in his hands. Yes, it was heavy enough that one blow could do all the work for him. He'd get caught, sure, but whatever. Dean smiled to himself in victory, creeping closer to his target, preparing for an attack. This would be perfect. As soon as Regal turned around and saw, as soon as all the realization flooded his face, it would all be over. The last thing Regal would see was Ambrose's revenge; he'd realize he was paying for his actions. And it would be too sweet.

"Alright. I do have some business to attend to. I'll have to talk to you later."

Ambrose's eyes widened with the anticipation. It was time. His hands gripped the neck of the bottle tighter, preparing to lift it over his head and strike. He could feel his heart beating in his throat, his breathing coming a lot quicker than normal. Yes, his senses were heightened for fight.

The swivel chair swung around slowly to reveal the older manager. Very solemn and relaxed, the elderly sophisticated vibe only made Dean clutch tighter.

Regal looked up.

Eyes locked.

And William Regal...smiled?

The whole world stood still as the sincere smile changed the mood of the moment. Dean's deranged grin became awkward as it faded in confusion. Where was the shock? Where was the realization? Where was the fear? Regal looked so polite as he invited Ambrose to sit. What was this?

"Mr. Ambrose, is it? I'm so pleased to finally meet you."

Dean subconsciously sat in the chair, fumbling for the words to say, and William gave him little time to think as he took the bottle from his hands. "A gift?" He read the label mentally and nodded. "Ah, a man with a keen eye for vintage. You're making a good impression already, Ambrose." There was a sweet chuckle that followed, such a foreign sound and expression from the man. Another chuckle seemed to come from the man and Dean became even more confused. "Your expression alone tells me you're a little uncomfortable and that's okay on a first interview. However, I assure you Mr. Ambrose, I have reviewed your record. And based on the information Mr. Rollins faxed over to me, you won't be unemployed long."

Ambrose became sidetracked momentarily, now confused and curious as to what Seth sent Regal. He wouldn't verbally question it now but he nodded stupidly as William continued. The whole situation was deviating so much so that it left him in this awkward state of confusion. "Mr. Ambrose, I won't waste either of our times further with formalities. I want to hire you to help counsel our younger occupants. We bring in a lot of youngsters with broken backgrounds and they need guidance. And I feel deep down that you will be the one to guide them." Dean still kept up his automatic nod, not listening but lost in his own thoughts. "I know you haven't had any formal training but you'll be my assistant so it should be fine. Working with Mr. Rollins, I doubt it'll be long before I can leave you to counsel on your own."

What exactly did Seth say about him? Dean became even more curious to the information Seth gave. "Yes, sir." He smiled lightly and shook the hand William was offering. He hadn't even realized the man was sending him off until Regal called in his secretary.

"Sunshine, be sure that Mr. Ambrose receives a schedule of the sessions by this evening please. I want him to begin as early as a day from now."

Dean kept his nodding as he was escorted out of the office, slowly stopping the action as he stepped out of the entire building. He stood for silent moments before creasing his eyebrow in disdain. What in the world happened?

:::

Ambrose spent the next day sitting in his room; trying to see where he went wrong. He didn't get the kill he wanted at all. Regal was still alive. And it seemed like he hadn't even remembered Ambrose. Pfft. Dean scoffed. There was no way William forgot—he was probably just playing dumb in order to gain the young man's trust. That was a more acceptable thought but still it didn't help ease his mind. Everything had just been off.

"Hey, I'm coming down." Roman warned after a brief knock on his door. Dean didn't call back up, still turning his vigilance to the incoming man. Reigns came down with two packs of meat in his hand. Sitting on Ambrose's bed, the nurse held each up. "Chicken? Or fish?"

Considering it, Dean rolled his head until deciding on the first. A smirk came to his face and he lied back, using his arms as pillows. "Dropping the doc hints for dinner?"

Roman returned a chuckle and stacked the packs. "I don't care how he prepares it, but Seth is going to cook me some meat." Both agreed; Seth's usually vegetarian diet wasn't quite their forte. "I'll let it unthaw in the sink for when he comes back." Roman raised to his feet about to walk back up the stairs until he heard the other call back to him.

"Hey, Rome?" Ambrose sat up, hoping to bring up something else that he'd been pondering.

"You're calling me Rome again? This must be serious."

Dean rolled his eyes at the mocking. "Nah, it's because I've got nothing else to call you." Roman gave his usual reaction simply smiling. "But do you know what Seth sent over to the Halfway house?"

"That place you wanna work?" Roman stared up in the air, thinking back. "No. He just told me whichever place you picked he could get you in. I just figured he knew some people." The big man began his ascent to the kitchen, a little shocked that Dean followed him.

Ambrose sat in one of the chairs while Roman tried to figure out the rest of dinner. Curiously, he continued the conversation. "Like, you didn't ask him anything about how he'd pull it off?"

"No, Dean. He said he had it so I let him take the reins." He stopped himself, sensing Ambrose's coming remark. "No pun intended."

The patient snickered before getting back to his situation. "I'm just saying: some of the businesses on those cards were pretty high class. I mean, don't you find it a little odd that someone so young has those kinds of connections?" Reigns shrugged causing Dean to sigh in frustration. "Not an inquisitive guy, are you?" Before a retort could come, the sound the front door alerted them. "The man of the hour is back," Ambrose whispered mostly to himself.

"And so is my appointment." Roman leaned against the counter waiting for Seth. They could hear what sounded like arguing echoing through the door.

"What do you mean he's out?! He can't be out!" The shouting got louder and much more aggressive as well as the approaching stomps. "He can't come here! You know how he feels about me, he can't come here!" Finally, a disheveled and frustrated Rollins burst through the door—phone stuck to his face as he complained. "Later okay? We'll talk about this later. I've got other things to do. You take care of this." He hung up abruptly, the scowl still on his face until he realized he was amongst Dean and Roman. The anger slowly slipped to a feigned smile. "Sorry you guys had to hear that. A little family business." He put his phone away and moved to the fridge. "So what's for dinner?"

"Not sure," Roman mumbled, leaving an awkward silence. He and Ambrose looked to one another, still curious about Seth's outburst. Eventually Roman shrugged in unison with Dean before checking his watch. If he didn't get going, he'd be late. "I'd love to stay and chat but the sooner I leave the sooner I get back here. So I'll see you two gentlemen later." Roman squeezed Seth and Dean's shoulders affectionately before running out the house. And then the silence was back for a while.

Rollins must have felt the little bit of tension because he cleared his throat before speaking. "Let me guess, Roman did this?" Seth lightly smirked as he looked into the sink at the unthawing meat. "Jokes on him. I'm going to cut this up and put it in a soup."

"Cruel," Ambrose mumbled in amusement. He let them sit in silence for a moment more before he cleared his throat also. "Hey, Seth?" The other let out a little noise of acknowledgement notifying Dean to continue. "Regal he's like a legend in your business, right? Well known and respected?"

"I guess so. We've met once or twice. I looked into some of his work and he's had a lot of praise." The comment was offhand. "So you could say that."

"Well not that you're below him or anything," Ambrose started, "but how does a newbie like you get in with a seasoned guy like him?"

Seth flinched before letting off a snicker. "I'm not exactly a novice, Dean."

"You're not exactly an expert either." Ambrose interrupted. "I know you haven't been in this business longer than five or six years."

Rollins flinched again but paused momentarily before clearing his throat. "Seven. It's been seven. And it's called connections; you meet a lot of people on the way up. Regal is a mutual acquaintance." He huffily went back to the fridge and pulled out some vegetables for his cutting board. "Dean, I feel like there's something else you're really trying to ask me."

"What did you send over to Regal to help me get that job?" Dean blatantly asked because he could do blunt. Dancing around the subject was just for amusement, really.

"Oh, is that all?" Seth laughed for a while until he shook his head. "You really don't need to worry about that." He pulled out a knife from his drawer and began to mince the chicken.

Dean leaned on the counter closer, "but I'm curious."

"Don't be."

"But I am," Ambrose tilted his head challengingly. "How does someone who has never counseled anyone end up being an assistant to such a prestigious man like William Regal?" Seth didn't answer, just continued to chop away at the food so Dean didn't stop talking. "It's even stranger since I have such little job experience and considering I've been locked away in a mental institution for some years now…"

Seth tried to laugh but it sounded forced. "You said that's where you wanted to work."

"And it is. But there's so many questions unanswered."

"Dean, stop asking how. You're in. The how's don't matter." Seth tried to laugh away the situation but the anger seemed to be just behind the surface.

"If the how's don't matter, then I don't understand why you can't just tell me!" Ambrose raised his voice, no malice behind it but he needed to push an answer out of Rollins. "What did you send him?!"

"Dean!" Seth brought the knife down hard against the cutting board. His body was tense for moments before he calmed, sighing as politely as he could. "Look, Dean, don't you have your first day of work tomorrow? Perhaps you should be more focused on that." Rollins sat the blade down and sternly looked at the other man. "Go get ready." He made it sound like a suggestion but Ambrose could sense the demand in his voice.

Well, wasn't this a surprising side of the doctor? Instead of being insulted by the command, it just made the patient more curious as to what the other was hiding. Maybe goody-two-shoes wasn't so sweet after all. He chuckled under his breath before standing from his seat. "Ah, you're right. I got a lot to do before tomorrow or whatever." As he walked towards his room, he turned back to add, "Just call me when dinner's ready. We can talk more while we eat."

Rollins finally picked the blade back up, mumbling to himself. "I'm not hungry."

Dean stifled his laugh and continued down the stairs to his room. He thought better of angering Seth further. The doctor certainly didn't have a short temper so something must really be stressing him. Though that was a side Ambrose _really_ wanted to see; however, maybe there would be a better time to stir up the trouble. Perhaps when Roman was witnessing it too. Yeah, that was more ideal.

Dean went through his drawers pulling out some of the news clothes Seth bought him, blanching at a few. Dress shirts and slacks. Nothing even remotely comfortable. "Bleh," he dug more in search of something a little less professional and a little more him. After tossing everything from two drawers, he finally decided on a pair of faded jeans and a fitting white v-neck. There. He could easily throw a blazer over top of that and call it professional. All taken care of. Dean plopped down on his bed with a sigh. Already he was bored again. Tomorrow was too far away and Seth wasn't giving him anymore information tonight. "Guess I could snooze for a bit," something he'd began to do regularly for some reason. The patient lazily rolled over and lied deep in his pillow. It bothered him that his vigilance was starting to fade but then again, a nap never hurt.

When Dean finally woke up, it was the next morning. He hadn't expected to sleep that long at all. Rubbing the heavy lids, he grabbed his toothbrush and headed upstairs. As usual, he was greeted by Roman tending to the morning coffee. The big man smiled after spotting him, sliding Dean a mug in welcome. "Usually people can't go to sleep before a big day. Uneasy nerves, you know."

Dean folded his arms to lay on the counter. "Yeah, well, I ain't nervous." He sniffed from the mug lightly before rubbing his eyes once more. Time to get up, he guessed. Taking a thick gulp, Ambrose drank much of his coffee until Reigns cautioned him to slow down. Dean ignored the words to finish and let the warmth wake his insides. Now he could focus a little more.

"You had quite a long nap."

Blinking, he commented. "Yeah, I didn't expect to sleep so long." He waved his hand dismissively. "But I wouldn't have been awake when you came in anyway."

"Actually, I came in at regular time." The words came out matter-of-factly as Roman sat down next to Ambrose. "Seth had just finished dinner when I came in."

Ambrose took the thought in and blinked with curiosity. "Why didn't you either of you wake me up then?"

Roman looked to the man in slight surprise. "Seth said you told him you weren't hungry. So he just let you sleep."

Dean inwardly grit his teeth but shrugged on the out. "Whatever." He'd exchange nasty words with Seth when the man came down. No need wasting them on Roman. Ambrose lazily laid back down on the counter until Reigns gave him a light shove, causing him to raise his brow. "What?"

"C'mon, I have to drop you off in about an hour. You can't fall back to sleep."

"I thought Seth was dropping me off." There was slight disbelief. There was no way Seth was trying to avoid him this much.

Roman shook his head. "Nope. He asked me to so he could get a couple more minutes in bed. Now hurry up." The big nurse ushered Dean along, chuckling. "It looks bad to be late on your first day."

Ambrose didn't give any more protest, just keeping his snide remarks to himself. Now he was certain Seth was hiding something, the little runt. He wouldn't be able to pester the man until after work it seemed. Might as well get this day over with, then. Charm Regal and set him up for the lengthy road to betrayal.

:::

"I'm sorry to throw you into this on the first day but the young man said the meeting was urgent." Dean waved away Regal's apology and followed him through the halls. He certainly hadn't expected for the entire place to be busy. Everything seemed so much livelier than the day he interviewed. This was actually a lot more commotion than he'd seen in a while. "I'm sure it's just a small roommate situation but its better you get to familiarize yourself with some of the faces around here."

The two ran into the counseling room, William catching his breath before smoothing his hair back. "Alright," he cleared his throat. "What's wrong, Tyler?"

The blonde young man stood with a frustrated face, his five suitcases stacked neatly behind him. Tyler went right up to Regal with a pointed finger. "I'm not rooming with that man! I'll leave this home completely before I room with an uggo like him!"

"Uggo?" Dean mumbled under his breathe before Regal spoke up.

"Breeze, let's be rational." William held his hands up defensively as he slowly moved towards the younger, ending up close enough to rub his shoulders. "Let's just get the paperwork done for you to be transferred back with Adrian, alright?"

Tyler thought it over and sighed. "That's not much better than that slob C.J Parker but I'll deal with it." Huffily but satisfied, the young man grabbed his bags and exited the room.

Dean curiously watched him leave before getting a nudge from Regal. "That's Tyler Breeze. Young lad comes from a rather wealthy family but they cut him off and sent him here for a while, hoping he'd become less spoiled. He's a handful but harmless."

Ambrose nodded in understanding, making certain to remember the name. "Who's Adrian?"

"Ah, so you were listening." the doctor ushered his assistant along. "Tyler's roommate, Adrian Neville. He's one of the only people Breeze seems to tolerate. Our system assigns roommates randomly so when they have separate room assignments, I manually have to go in and pair them up."

Ambrose scoffed to himself. It just sounded like a lot of extra work to him. "Aren't you just spoiling him more by giving him what he wants?"

Dr. Regal smiled benevolently, "I suppose so." He unlocked the door to Dean's new office. "However, the clients comfort is my number one concern. These are mostly people who, by some chance or the other, feel that they lost control of their life. I feel it is my duty to help them regain that control. And if that means caving in to accommodate them on little things, then so be it." Dean didn't answer just processing the difference their seemed to be in the man. This just didn't feel like the William Regal he knew six years ago. But he wouldn't let his guard down—Regal may have just gotten that much better at the playing-innocent game.

William grabbed a few files from the cabinet by Dean's desk and dropped them in Ambrose's hands. "What are these?" The patient asked as he flipped through them.

"Profiles of the tenants who I personally counsel. These are the ones I want you to sit in on during sessions to observe and maybe give some input." William flitted through a few as well. "The number of people we have coming in is growing and so is the number of people needing counseling. These tenants take up a large majority of my service so I wanted to have you counsel them in my stead. But that will only happen once they become more comfortable with you. So familiarize yourself with my notes and prepare to meet me in the counseling lounge in say..." Regal looked down at his watch, "an hour."

With a curt nod from Dean, the doctor left the room and went on his way. And Dean stood there momentarily, almost amused. Well, this was sure to be a group of interesting sessions. He'd certainly tell Seth about it—after he killed the runt for making him skip dinner.

* * *

Here we go guys ^^

Oh, and just an update. I can't update Chimerical until I get more from my friend since it's her story so we're all waiting together :D But I think she's not feeling well as of late so please be patient! Grazie!


	4. Interests Out of The Asylum

Interests Out of the Asylum

* * *

Surprising his self, Dean actually took the hour to study the files; each one more compelling than the last. He could only think of what the files looked like for the whack-jobs in his asylum. Maybe he could persuade Roman to take him back up there one day—like some years later. If he saw those walls again, it would be too soon.

Ambrose slouched down in the chair, giving the man before them another once over. Baron Corbin. He was tall, brooding, dismal, tatted up and down the arms; probably intimidating in any other setting. But here in Regal's office he looked like a child awaiting words from the principal.

William looked through some notes while speaking. "The counselor at your job reported to me last week that you weren't getting as much sleep as you should. You've been dozing off at work." The client just stared, almost unmoving except for his chest inhaling and exhaling. "Has something been keeping you up?"

The tatted man looked to the ceiling before giving a short, "Yes."

"What's been keeping you up?"

"Work," Baron thought about the next addition, "My roommate."

"How so?" The doctor looked the man over. "Are they too noisy? Messy?" There was no answer, the youth keeping his eyes fixed on the elder man. "Anything?" Still no response. Regal held his notepad in his lap, offering an understanding smile. "Baron, if you want a new roommate—"

The large young man tilted his head lightly. "No." It was a soft dismissal. "I don't want a new roommate."

"Then I need you to rest." Dr. Regal reprimanded lightly. "If you want to stay in that room, you must govern yourself to get to bed on time. Lights go out at ten."

"But I work late," the big guy growled out in a sigh. "I'm not usually in until twelve. Then I have to be up by seven to catch the bus."

"You've got seven hours between those two times. That's reasonable. What else do you do besides sleep?" Dean interrupted. He analyzed Baron Corbin, the guy not moving, still staring menacingly at the two of them. The kid obviously didn't emote well, but his voice carried a bit more than his face did. He seemed a bit distressed over the possibility of changing rooms.

Corbin gritted his teeth slightly before standing to his feet. Without so much as an exhale, Baron walked clear out the room—much to Dean's surprise. Regal didn't even try to stop him.

Ambrose thought maybe he made a misstep in saying something until Regal clapped a hand on his back. "I think he likes you. I can never get anything more than a one word answer out of him." The chuckle that followed was very relieved. "Come, my boy. Bayley is waiting."

Hearing a girl's name caused a grin to flash quickly across Dean's face. He could only wander how much different these ladies would be from the asylum girls. Regal lead the man away to another room and upon entering, Dean was embraced in the arms of the young woman. Her high ponytail nearly suffocated him the few seconds she squeezed tightly in greetings.

Super perky, she bounced as she did the same to William. "Hi, Mr. Regal and new guy," she laughed at her own words and rocked on the balls of her feet.

"Hello to you too," Regal patted the girl on the head. "Bayley, this is my new assistant, Dean Ambrose. Treat him well."

"Oh okay. Dean," she tried the name out, pointing to Ambrose as if to commit the connection deep in her memory. "Hi, Dean!" She opened her arms again to embrace the man before sitting down on her bunk with her legs crossed. Dean's further inspection lead him to realize that the room was actually one of the occupied living quarters. And with all the plush toys and stuffed animals gracing the bottom bunk, he knew where Bayley slept. The young lady pointed to the beanbag chairs at the foot of her bed. "Please have a seat. Have a seat."

Regal was only too happy to comply, urging Ambrose to follow suit. He whispered to the younger man, "I hope you have your writing pad ready." Curiously Dean tried to understand the words but they became clear as the bouncy young lady began talking. Her words weren't as frenetic as her thoughts but the way she switched subjects up so rapidly was quite admirable. They touched on everything she felt and did in the past week in a matter of minutes, Regal's watch going off just as she finished. And surprisingly, all the energy she had bottled up from earlier was now released and she spoke slower and much calmer. Regal stood and smiled at the girl. "You seem better after this chat."

Bayley nodded her head with a happy sigh. "Much better, Mr. Regal. Thanks for listening. Both of you."

"Anytime my dear." The doctor helped Dean to his feet, walking him to the door. "Remember to get a good night's rest and take it easy. Someone as pretty as you shouldn't worry so much."

Blushing, the youth buried her face in a pillow. "Thank you, Mr. Regal"

While walking out the door, William leaned to confide in the assistant. "Bayley is a much easier case. All she needs is someone to vent to after her former roommate moved out. Charlotte visits from time to time but not enough, I'm afraid. But that's neither here nor there. Now, we must hurry." Regal grabbed Dean's wrist, "If we're even a minute la—"

"Regal!" The boy from earlier, Tyler stomped up to the duo, someone else dragging behind him. Furiously, Breeze jabbed a finger in William's chest. "I was waiting in that counseling room for over two minutes! Do you know how much time I wasted just sitting there?"

"As much time as Adrian did, I'm sure." The doctor held up his hands defensively while turning to the shorter man behind Tyler. "Adrian," He shook the youth's hand before ushering everyone to another counseling room. "Let's not waste any more of your time, yes?"

Appeased momentarily, Breeze paraded back down the hall from where he came, dragging Neville by the wrist. Dean couldn't say he wasn't annoyed by the blonde youth but he was more surprised at just how nice Regal was still _pretending_ to be. He just wouldn't believe this wasn't an act. He knew the true Dr. William Regal, no matter how he wanted to forget. He couldn't stop the way his eyebrows naturally creased in anger from the thought—causing William to slightly shake his shoulder. Ambrose quickly shot the glare in the older man's direction but the doctor only offered a soft smile. "I know he's a bit needy but Tyler's a good fellow."

It took Dean a moment to recognize that Regal was misreading his expression, so instead of correcting the man, he played it off. "Yeah, you know. I'm just not used to the whining, is all." He continued down the hall with William, turning to ask. "So we talk to the two of them at the same time?"

Walking briskly, Regal nodded. "Indeed. Some people counsel better in pairs, the usual couples being more romantically involved." As he rounded the corner into the room, he whispered back in amusement. "And I have my suspicions about Breeze and Neville. They've grown quite _close_."

Ambrose rolled his eyes and inwardly gagged. Ugh, what was with everyone trying to play matchmaker? Couldn't people hang out and develop a completely platonic relationship? Romance only complicated things and that he knew first hand.

:::

Around five, Roman sat at the kitchen counter with his phone in his hands, sifting through some appointments for the week ahead. Something felt weird in the home, especially after another overheard conversation from Seth. There was more _"he shouldn't be here" _and _"take care of this, or else"_. The frustration and aggressive nature of the call made him uncomfortable—from two rooms over no less. Who was this 'he' that Seth was so bent on? Maybe Dean was right; maybe he should've been more inquiring. Rollins was being a bit out of the ordinary and as his boyfrie…wait. Could he call it that? Sure they'd been living together, sleeping in the same room even, but it wasn't like they really _did anything_. All the fuss over Ambrose kept them too busy to discuss the issue before and now their conflicting work schedule stood as a barrier. Either way, as a friend at least, he should've asked him what was going on.

He heard footsteps approaching and decided to take the opportunity to actually confront the man. Rollins burst in the kitchen, mind obviously somewhere else as he began to search the drawers and cabinets. He hadn't acknowledged Roman in the least, in his own world. The big man waited to see if he'd get any type of response but when none came he cleared his throat roughly. Only for a second, Seth stopped and turned to him, giving a half-hearted smile. "Sorry, big guy. Didn't see you there." The doctor continued his searching. "What's up? You need something?"

"Yeah." Reigns put his phone down and kept his eyes on the man. "Is something going on that we should talk about?"

A snicker came from Rollins. "Something like what?"

"Well," he tried not to sound nosy, "like who you've been talking to on the phone recently."

Seth stopped his rummaging for what felt like an eternity before chuckling. "I don't think that's really your business."

"I was just saying," Roman sighed, "you seem a lot shorter with everyone. No need to get defensive, Seth."

"I'm not getting defensive," Rollins went back to his frantic looking. "But the three of us are bunched in this one house—_my house_." He emphasized. "Don't you think I deserve a little privacy?"

Reigns sat up in disbelief at the delivery of the words. He tried to laugh off how offended he was to keep from getting heated. "This is what I mean. Why are you on edge?" Seth slammed a cabinet shut and took a moment to sigh, running his hands through his hair. "You can talk to us, Seth."

"Thanks." The doctor finished his search, empty-handed. Hurriedly he turned and gave another practiced smile. "I'll keep that in mind." He eased over to the bigger man and patted his shoulder. "But do you think you could call in and stay home tonight? I have somewhere I have to be and I don't know when I'll be getting in." Before Roman could protest, Seth thanked him again and ran out of the house.

"Sure," the nurse groaned in his throat before moving to the fridge to make a sandwich. It was still three hours until Dean got off. Guess he'd have a night in with Netflix.

The rest of the week went by in similar fashion for all three. Dean would meet more tenants at work, Roman had to change his schedule to accommodate for Seth's absence, and Seth would be out for hours on end. When Ambrose got off of work, he'd find Roman at the kitchen bar, handling some work that he had to bring home. The two would share small talk about the day, order dinner, watch a little TV, and head to bed. Having worked all day left Dean pretty drained and sedated so he made for good company at least.

The nurse wiped his forehead in exhaustion, glad to finally be done with the reports he needed to finish. Just in time for the weekend—and Dean's arrival it seemed. The sound of boots stomping the floor gave away the patient as he made his way to the kitchen. With a nod, he greeted Ambrose. "You're home early. Did Seth drop you off?"

"No, Regal gave me a ride actually." Dean dusted his jacket but stopped mid stroke and looked at the microwave's clock. "The doctor's out again? What's his excuse this time?"

Roman took a swig from his bottled water tiredly. "'Business' to take care of." He could feel the smug grin coming on Dean's face from the way his own words seemed bitter. "Oh shut up." It wasn't that he was mad about Rollins' secrecy, per say, but he was sick of being blown off during every conversation. It was starting to get annoying, something Dean predicted would happen since the first night.

"I'm telling you, he's got something under wraps and it's driving him nuts." Ambrose played with the idea in his head. "I bet he's living a double life; psychiatrist by day, stripper by night."

Roman didn't even want to entertain the idea so he changed the subject. "Overall how was your first week? Think you'll survive?"

Shrugging, the man scooted into the seat next to Roman. "I'll scrape by but it's like babysitting bratty teens." That got a snort of laughter from Reigns and Dean lied on the countertop in exhaustion. He really needed to put the whole week behind him; his plot against Regal could be on the backburner for a night. "I could use a drink." A grumble confirmed Roman's agreement with the plan. "I saw a bar right up the road. Twenty minute walk, we cut the time in half if we drive."

"You know as well as I do, Seth wouldn't let us." The two began to walk into the living room, Dean hurrying to the front of Roman.

"But Rollins isn't here." He gave the most mischievous smile he could muster, suggestively nudging the man in the chest. "And what's a couple of drinks between two good friends?"

"So all of a sudden we're friends?" Roman chuckled, amused by Dean's sudden pleasantness. The persuasion was actually cute. "I'm not being used, am I?"

"Hey, I could walk up there alone if I wanted to," Ambrose threw an arm around the bulkier man, "but I think you deserve a night out after your long work week, baby." Roman's expression teased Ambrose for the whole 'baby' thing but Dean was unshaken. He whispered lowly, the rascality evident in the way his words dripped out. "Besides, who said we can't have a few secrets of our own?" Much to Dean's surprise, Roman actually seemed to be considering it. Just to seal the deal he grabbed the man's keys and placed them in his hands. "Just one drink. Put this week and this whole Seth business behind you for a while. One drink."

Roman sighed with a smile and gripped the keys. He would probably regret this but the hijinks Dean's smirk was promising was irresistible. For a moment he actually forgot that Dean was supposed to be his patient. Well, it was after hours technically. "One drink," the big man enforced with a smile matching Dean's. "But I'm not obligated to help you in any bar fights. I might help if I'm not too hammered."

"Hammered?" The two began to walk out the door, Dean turning curiously at the words. "You're only drinking one glass."

Roman stopped him with his own poke to the chest. "You're only drinking one glass. I deserve this after my _long_ work week," He chuckled at the mocked words, "_baby_." Reigns had to admit, it felt great seeing Dean give a real grin, challenging or otherwise.

:::

Dean kept to the demand to regulate his drinking; Roman, on the other hand, was on his third drink and getting looser by the sip. Ambrose had no problem with the arrangement, reveling in the sheer enjoyment of watching Reigns unstiffen—and more surprisingly, open up. Just to see it more, Dean bought two more rounds for when the other man finished.

"And that was just last week!" The Samoan finished his story, rolling all over the bar top as he laughed. Dean couldn't remember ever seeing Roman laugh that hard. "True story, Dean. I swear to you." Those dimples were driving Roman wild. Having been deprived of seeing them for so long, he couldn't stop paying attention to them or trying to draw them out. So he couldn't stop talking. "So you're not exactly the strangest person I've had as a patient." He raised the bottle up, letting that long neck press against his lips to finish it off. "Definitely one of the most attractive though," he tried to whisper but it came out much more audible than he planned.

"Oh yeah?" Ambrose grinned, taking a few of the openly offered peanuts. "Then tell me how attractive I am." Roman snorted into a laugh, a small blush rising to his cheeks while he shook his head. "Come on, we're brothers here." Though Dean was sure brothers didn't look at each other the way Roman was looking at him. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed Reigns' eyes honing in on him—especially over the past week. The thought inflated his ego much more than it should. "It's not like a romantic thing. If a guy can't tell another guy how good looking he is, what kind of friendship do they have?" With the reluctance Roman was showing, Dean took it upon himself to signal the bartender to bring another drink.

The retrieval was automatic, and Roman took another sip, feeling a bit more comfortable. "I don't know, I mean, there's a lot about you. The look, that personality, those dimples—god, those sexy dimples. They'll be the death of me."

Yes, his ego was super inflated now. "And you've felt this way for…how long?"

"Come on. You're really trying to pick my brain here." Rubbing his neck, Roman shrugged embarrassedly. "Well, I'd say it all started kinda quick. I remember coming in to the…" he started, trying to gain a little more composure, "you know, the asylum?"

"I know the asylum," Dean interjected getting a playful shove from Roman.

"Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" Reigns waited for Ambrose to quiet back down before starting again. "One night I got flagged down as soon as I was about to walk out the front door. This was like a month after I started working with you, you know, like around the time when you still didn't care for me at all. But yeah, they uh…they told me you were on the roof and you wouldn't eat. You wouldn't take your medicine. Everything was just." He threw his hands up to explain the mess. "So I go up there, ticked because it was way too late to be dealing with any of it, and I find you. And Dean, the way the light coming from the uh…the moon. The way it hit you…" The nurse trailed off as if he was seeing the image right before him. He had to take another sip of liquid courage, growing a little redder in the cheeks. "I just couldn't stop looking at you." Dean tried to recall the incident but he had been up on that roof so many times, it was hard to pinpoint. "I just stood there and stared with my mouth open for an eternity and you," Roman chuckled to himself at the memory, "you gave me that pompous smirk and said, 'if you don't close that pretty mouth of yours—'"

"I might give you something to wrap it around." Dean finished with Roman. Right, he remembered now. "I did say that, didn't I?"

Roman nodded. "And it was the first thing you ever said to me—because you basically ignored me up till that point. You just stared for the longest time."

"The funny thing was that you immediately got angry, and nearly stomped off the roof trying to drag me away."

"I wasn't even angry! I was f-frustrated!" Roman interjected with another laugh, pulling the tie out of his hair. "You gotta understand, your looked perfect; that waist, those blue eyes, messy hair. You flashed me those dimples and then you say _that_…" He sipped from his beer, grumbling lightly. "I had to be mad to keep from popping a stiffy." That really got Dean howling in laughter, only bringing Roman deeper into his embarrassment.

Ambrose let the commotion die down after he calmed, giving his companion a once over. Roman was always handsome, oozed machismo, but starchy. He was hard to relate to, trying to be such a good nurse. And Dean loved how he cared for him in the asylum, but emotionally he seemed distant until recently. Living together for the short month or so brought out a personality that kind of…turned him on. Seeing the more relaxed, more human Reigns had his imagination standing at attention, so to speak. It certainly wasn't what he planned for on their little outing, but it became more and more accepted.

"Man, Seth's going to kill us. Look at the time," Roman examined his watch, long hair curtaining his face. There was a groan before he slid his hands over his face. It was midnight already. The nurse began to lie on the bar top in his folded arms. "We should be sleep right now."

Soft snores told Dean it was indeed time to go. "Not here, big guy." He hopped off his bar stool and did his best to haul Reigns to his feet. "Come on, handsome." The larger man groaned in protest but eventually went along with Ambrose.

The night wind felt refreshing, crisp. Too good to be skipping out on walking but he needed to get Roman's truck home. Dean did his best to help Reigns into the passenger seat, the man slouching to comfort while he began to doze off again. The sober patient hopped in the driver's seat, suddenly remembering that the keys were in Roman's jacket pocket. Dean reached over to the closest jacket pocket and found nothing so he reached across, stopping when the man lolled his head away from the window, towards the patient. Roman's jacket fell open to his tight fitting V-neck. It just hugged certain spots so well. Dean's hovering hand unconsciously began to lower onto the stomach below; the fingers beginning their own exploration. Not that he was groping the man, just admiring. It wasn't like he had impure intentions so this was fine, right? Right.

Geez, even relaxed the muscles on the man were prominent, bulging. Dean's hand ran across Roman's lower abdomen, his thumb dipping into the other's bellybutton before it journeyed backwards to his oblique abs. Reigns was getting a bit leaner, it seemed. Ambrose let his hand wander around until it sloped to his lower back, fingers beginning to probe the rough material of jean. Too occupied with his own examination, Dean didn't feel Roman stirring under him until the man moved his hand to grab Ambrose's wrist. Dean's eyes snapped to the still groggy man and his mouth couldn't help but hang open. This must've been the moonlight Roman saw all that time ago because in that moment Reigns looked perfect. Long waves of hair framing the strong face softening out the features a bit, faded cobalt eyes only slightly opened, and only soft words coming through the slightly parted lips.

"If you don't close that pretty mouth of yours," Roman started mockingly, "I might—" Before he could finish, Dean gripped the front of his V-neck and yanked him forward, his lips so close to Roman's he could taste the alcohol on the nurse's heavy breath. The quiet warmth of the car was only adding to the intensity, the swirling testosterone. Roman's large hands came up to cup Dean's face, the man's whispers causing their lips to touch just so. "Do you really think he's cheating on us?"

It took everything in Ambrose's body not to ignore the question and let his Id do the thinking; but he managed to control himself just enough to get what he originally needed. Grabbing the keys from the jacket pocket and sitting back in his seat, Dean wasted no time in letting the windows down. He needed some air. He needed to think—especially with Roman still partially awake and awaiting an answer.

Trying to play it cool, Ambrose snorted smugly. "The way he's been acting, there's no telling." The patient started up the truck and barked. "And don't say 'us'. He's not my boyfriend or friend. And you…" He looked over to Roman, feeling the need to be a bit gentler than completely shooting him down. They did have a pretty good week together and it wasn't like Reigns would remember any of this in the morning anyway. Might as well play with the situation. "We're friends but if you had stayed sleep a little longer we would've been _great_ friends."

There was a brief silence before a gruff chuckle broke the quiet. Roman groaned as he cuddled up against the window. "Remind me not to go to sleep around you then. I kind of like sitting down, _friend_."

"But isn't that what you and Seth wanted? To be more than 'friends'?" Ambrose teased as they pulled in to the drive way.

Reigns shook his head with a chuckle, "Sure, but I'm not willingly going to get on my back an—"

"Rome," Dean interrupted as he turned off the truck. Home already. "I didn't expect you to willingly get on your back." He patted the man's shoulder reassuringly, getting out of the truck to open Roman's door. Reaching the passenger side, he found a suggestive smirk to flash the bigger man with his sultry words. "Where's the fun in that? I'm sure you'll taste much better when I pin you down." The red that flooded Roman's stupefied face was the perfect ending to their night.

The patient went to the house's door, Rollins worriedly opening it before he could knock. The man looked to be rushing, his clothes so disheveled and hair messy, keys in hand. Gazing at Dean in shock, Seth stuttered to try and get some question out but it was too late to have decent conversation. There was no point anyway. Tomorrow would be the weekend, they could talk the next morning. "Mind helping Roman in? And you might want to put him on the couch tonight. He's got a few drinks in his system so he's a little flirty. Night." Making sure not to give Seth a moment to speak, Dean hurried down to his bedroom. So much for hiding this from the doctor. Ah, whatever. There would probably be a fallout tomorrow and that would be the perfect day to bring all the secrets out; theirs and Seth's alike.

* * *

I'm trying to be a little quicker in the uploads so I hope I can keep it up! And I hope you're enjoying ^^ thanks fro reviewing!


	5. Confrontation Out of the Asylum

Confrontation Out of the Asylum

* * *

The next morning, Dean was chocked awake by dust falling from the ceiling into his mouth. Sputtering and coughing, he flung himself off the bed and to the floor, inspecting the ceiling. Hard thumps and bumps vibrated from upstairs. Fierce Stomping? Fighting? What exactly was going on up there? Clad in a shirt from the night before and boxers, Ambrose snuck up the steps to try and get a better view.

He pressed his ear to the door, catching the yelling match between...Seth and Roman? Yeah, it was Seth and Roman.

"You're an irresponsible idiot, Roman! Sometimes I wonder if you ever think!"

"Would you just listen, Seth?!"

"Sorry, I've made it a rule not to entertain stupidity!"

"I'm about one more insult away from knocking you clear through the wall!"

Oooh, wow. Dean had half a mind to go back to his bed and let this blow over but then again the more dominant half was intrigued by the verbal disagreement. He cracked his door slightly, catching the men as they came arguing into the kitchen. He didn't mind watching how this played out before jumping in; Ambrose knew better.

"He's not your drinking buddy! He's supposed to be a patient! Do you know how this would look?!"

"It looked like exactly what it was, two guys hanging out! It's not like Dean came home wasted! I made sure he only had one drink!"

"One drink, two drinks, no drinks: it doesn't matter! The fact is, you took a patient who has a history of addictive tendencies out to a bar!"

"Oh please," Roman sneered, "don't play that whole patient thing with me! You let him do what he wants, wear what he wants, work where he wants—he's more of our roommate than our patient! And you know what," Reigns threw his hands in the air as if to emphasize the big reveal, "I like it better that way! He's a cooler guy! I can watch movies with him and talk about nothing all and still have a good time like guys are supposed to!"

"You spend a week alone with him and suddenly you're in love all over again," Seth mocked in a condescending laugh. "Geez, Roman." Rollins pointed a finger in warning. "Fine, be his brother, be his 'bro' but don't come crying to me when it back fires—and it will backfire because you see I've been doing my research and he's not the angel you seem to think. I know why Dean really wanted to work at that place."

Roman was about to rise and defend Dean but he stopped with growing confusion. "That's where Crowe is. We already knew that."

"Guess again."

Before Seth could continue, Dean burst through the basement door, pretending to have just woken up and be oblivious to the conversation. With a big fake yawn, he plopped himself down on a stool. "Morning." He scratched his head and looked Rollins up and down, "Finally found time to come home?" The doctor couldn't keep the sneer off his face but Dean continued. He needed to keep the conversation as far away from his job (and vengeance) as possible. "Your sugar daddy give you enough for the weekend?"

Rollins seemed confused and offended, his lids turning to slits instantly. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know," Ambrose coyly stared. "You tell us. Just who have you been running off to every night?"

Instead of snapping, Seth folded his arms with a chuckle. "I feel like you already have your own guesses, Dean."

"Yeah, well of all the guesses, Roman and I narrowed it down to either you're a stripper or you're sleeping around." Dean shrugged amusedly. "Maybe even both! Now that would be something." He mused but straightened back out. "But I'm more inclined to believe the second idea."

Still pan-faced, Seth glanced between the two. He sighed deeply while shaking his head. He really didn't have time for this. Grabbing his coffee mug, the man started his stroll out the room. Seth was stopped prematurely by Roman's hand clamping against his arm. Immediately Rollins swung around with a look of pure fury on his face—the look greatly contrasting the pained expression on Reigns.

The larger man knitted his eyebrows together with disbelief. "Are you?" Seth didn't respond, glaring deeply. "Seth, are you?" Still the man cut his eyes in silence until Roman shouted. "Answer me!"

"Why should I dignify such a stupid question with an answer?!" Rollins snapped, jabbing a finger in Roman's chest. "You sit up here and let Dean fill your head with idiotic ideas and you expect me to entertain them? I don't understand how you could believe him!"

"Seth," Roman's desperation began to shine through his lowered but frustrated tone, "what reason are you giving me not to believe it?" The shorter man blinked his eyes before lowering them to the ground and Roman ran a hand through his hair in concern. "You didn't even deny it, Seth."

"Don't you trust me more than that? I shouldn't have to deny it!" Instantly the argument picked back up.

"Trust can only go so far when you're coming home late every night for reasons you won't tell us!"

"Because it's none of your business!" Seth snapped back.

Roman advanced as he yelled, "As your boyfriend, it should be my business!"

With both men so close, Seth could read the lack of confidence in Roman's statement no matter how loud he yelled it; the truth was written in tiny details of his face. "You don't really think you're my boyfriend, do you?" There wasn't an answer, but the tiny features became more evident in Roman's face. And just like that, Rollins seemed to lose his anger in place of a slight sadness, a disbelief. "All this time we've been living together and you don't think we're in a relationship? Is that why you think I'm cheating?" Still there was no answer but a mirrored sadness glossed over Reigns, causing Seth to grab one of his hands. "C'mon Roman. We're a couple, you should _know_ that. Why would—"

"Because," the larger man started with a sigh, pushing hair out of his face. "Because Seth, if we're a couple, we're not a normal one. We don't hold hands. We don't talk to each other regularly. We don't hang out with each other. Heck, we've never even been on a date, Seth!"

"Really?" Dean interrupted, overly interested in the turn of conversation. "That's bad. I mean you were together like a month before I even got here!"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Well we were a little busy trying to get you out."

Ambrose pressed further, amused that he was kind of annoying Seth. "Yeah but you could've hit up a taco stand together and called that a date or something."

Rollins did his best to ignore the other and focus on Roman but he couldn't avoid hearing the man going on about potential date ideas. On the brink of snapping, Seth rubbed his temple. As calmly as possible he turned to Dean. "Shut up, Dean." The patient gave a loud exaggerated sigh but smirked afterwards. Seth truly regretted revealing Dean that he could be frustrated when stressed. He could feel their living arrangement becoming that much more difficult.

A hand came up to cup his face and it turned Seth towards Roman. The big man had a new look of determination on his face, the other hand coming up to make sure Rollins couldn't break eye contact. "Seth," Roman's voice was silky smooth but commanding, "We're going on a date."

"Today? Like...today?" Seth stammered out.

"I mean like, _now_." Roman nodded with his correction, causing a soft snicker from Dean. Well, he wasn't quite expecting them to just get up and go. Then again, Roman wasn't the one for holding back; when he wanted something done, he was vocal about it.

Much to Reigns surprise, the doctor actually turned pink in the cheeks. "But we can't just…" Rollins shifted his eyes quickly to Ambrose. "We can't leave him here by himself."

"Why not?" Dean interrupted, going to grab some pretzels from on top of the fridge. "I ain't going nowhere. It's Saturday. I'm sleeping in."

Seth was still skeptical, until his phone began to buzz in his pocket. Breaking free of Roman's hands and reading the text he smirked. "Maybe we won't be leaving you alone after all." Ugh, Dean could already tell he wasn't going to like where this was going. Roman fixed his mouth to interject but Seth quickly cleared it up. "Dr. Regal invited Dean to a picnic sponsored by the company funding the halfway house. He said he'll be picking him up in about an hour if he wants to go."

Blinking in annoyance, Dean stared the doctor down. "Well I don't want to go."

Seth shrugged with a grin on his face. "Sorry. Already texted back and told him you'd would."

There was an intense and awkward glare that passed between both men, Roman sensing it and speaking to lighten the mood. "Look on the bright side. It'll be a chance for you to bond with the tenants." Reigns went over to ruffle Dean's hair, the patient pouting under the juvenile treatment. "And if you're good, maybe I'll take you on a date tomorrow."

Dean mockingly laughed as the larger man chuckled before shoving Roman away. "Go and get ready for your day or whatever."

As soon as Roman left the room, Seth was all over Dean; finger pointed in his face, smirk on his lips, and a hand clutching the front of his shirt. Ambrose couldn't help but mirror the expression and get two fists curled in the front of Rollins shirt. "What?" Dean teased. "You wanna kiss me like Roman almost did?"

"I'll kill you before I kiss you."

Dean teased and taunted, "But where's the love? Isn't that why I'm here? Because you both _love_ me?"

"You knew I would never let you go to a bar."

"But you weren't here yesterday, were you?"

"And you really used that to your advantage. Guess I'll have to keep you on a shorter leash." Seth bit back, the smile still on his face. He dropped his volume to a harsh whisper. "You're slick, Ambrose but I'm not going to let you hurt him."

"You can't stop me," Dean's grin only grew with his adrenaline, fueled by being so close to a threatening Seth. "I'm already in his good graces. Regal trusts me like I'm his son." Dean followed in dropping his voice. "Whose son are you, Seth?" Rollins continued to smile, unfaltering. "Daddy must be loaded."

"Everything I have, I deserve."

"What a great subjective word: 'deserve', but did you earn it?"

"Regal's not the same man, Dean. He doesn't even remember who you are."

Dean would've guffawed at the way Seth avoided his question but he was stuck on the statement. What If Seth was right? He hated the idea—absolutely hated the thought that those spirit-breaking years with Regal were a distant memory to the man who caused them. His smile finally dropped into a scowl, one that resurfaced every time he thought back to those days. He only came back to reality from Seth plucking him across the forehead. The small blow caused him to pull back slightly and rub the sore spot.

"Don't do anything dumb. I believe in getting even sometimes but, I don't think this is the Dr. William Regal you know."

"He's obviously got you fooled too." Ambrose cut his eyes huffily before heading back towards his room. "I'm not falling for his ploy. You'll see. I'm right about him. I just know it." He nearly slammed the basement door behind him when he went to his room. He couldn't help but feel annoyed. Doubting himself always made him feel that way. It was almost funny how in setting out to annoy Seth, he was the one annoyed in the end. Karma maybe? Whatever influencing power, had to also be the reason he was going to this stupid picnic. Sure he wanted revenge on William but he certainly didn't want to babysit some brats on a Saturday. This was going to be a long day, he could already tell.

:::

The park they drove to remind him of one of those busy college campuses from a brochure: young people sitting in the grass, playing Frisbee, group up in chatter. The only thing that kept Dean from locking himself in the car was the smell of the grill and the food on it. Even still it wasn't enough to make him want to actually get out of the car.

Sensing the reluctance, Regal rubbed Dean's shoulder. "They're not clients today. Just regular people like you and I." Dean snickered under his breath. _Regular_. Right. "Seeing who these young men and women are away from the house can help you understand them better when they do need counseling." Still sensing the man was unconvinced, William nudged him playfully. "Plus, consider it my treat after such an excellent first week."

Ambrose kind of liked the sound of that, this being the second time he was being treated. With a soft sigh, he climbed out of the car and prepared himself mentally to deal with the lot. As soon as Dean stepped foot out of the car, he was tackled and suffocated by a high ponytail. "Hi Bayley."

The terminally delightful young lady smiled up at Dean and grabbed his hand, urging him to come join the picnickers. He lagged behind her with his heels in the dirt as she pulled. She however was a bit stronger than he anticipated and she was able to draw him close enough for Enzo and Cass to do the rest. He was most surprised that they remembered him from his initial visit. Ever since a couple days ago when he was reintroduced to the two, they'd made it their business to help him get acclimated to their world.

"We'll take him from here, Bay. How's 'bout you and Carmella hit up the hoops?" Cassady wrapped one arm around Dean's shoulder, pulling him under his wing.

Enzo copied the taller man, not in the least phased by having to get on his toes a bit. "Yeah maybe you could teach her how to check like a normal person. I swear she's too rough sometimes."

"Or maybe you're just too fragile, Zo!" The Jersey girl herself answered the criticism by popping Enzo on the butt as she came from behind him, causing a loud shriek from the short man. Before Amore could say anything to her, Carmella had grabbed and ran off with Bayley, laughing. "Fragile!" She taunted from a distance.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Enzo yelled back, massaging his backside. "Geez, Mella," he grumbled. "No chick I know hits like that." He continued to mumble threatening things to himself, allowing Cass to take Dean's attention.

Colin looked around the park at all the people and then to Ambrose. "So who don't you know already, new guy? Cuz Zo and I don't mind introducing you."

Dean mulled over the idea. "If I point them out, think you could tell me about them?"

"Cool," Colin shrugged, just figuring the man wasn't comfortable socializing yet. "We could grab a drink, sit down—"

"No," Enzo interrupted with a pained expression. "The last thing I wanna do is sit down right now."

"Geez, Zo." The bigger man rolled his eyes and began to walk away with the Frisbee.

"No seriously, I think I'm bruisin'." Another eye roll came but the goofy mismatch duo gladly incorporated Ambrose into a game of Frisbee, using the time to further familiarize him with the faces all around.

:::

This had to have been the most awkward walk that Seth can remember in his life. The setting was perfect from the bright sun, to the flourishing park's greenery, to the deliciously sticky ice cream between his fingers. Yet he was feeling so awkward. Only now did he really understand what Roman was going on about. Every other sentence he thought about using started with either "Dean", "Ambrose", or "work". He supposed his mind was as much trapped in the asylum as his patient's was.

Reigns on the other hand was content just to be around the other. Sure he was nervous but Seth's mind wasn't somewhere else. At least he was there with him in the present. Roman let his eyes roam over the doctor, a simple outfit of jeans and a t-shirt never looking so good to him. Well, besides on Dean—but this was a different look for the usually professional Rollins. Plus, his fresh shave and hair falling over his shoulders made him look younger and even more like some awkward youth. It was cute in every sense of the word.

Seth must've felt Reigns staring at him because he chanced a glance up before looking back at his dessert and clearing his throat. "Yes?"

"What's up with this blonde patch in your hair?" The question was spur of the moment, just one to start a much needed conversation. As much as he was enjoying the date, he really wanted Seth to loosen up a bit.

Rollins ran a hand through the strands. "It's my rebel streak."

"Rebel streak?" Roman knitted his eyebrows together, slightly chuckling. "Your _rebel streak_?"

"Yeah." Seth challenged with a smile of his own. "What's so funny about that?" Roman shrugged but continued to grin. "What is it?"

Finally the larger man looked him over again. "What exactly were you rebelling against?" Another snicker came between his words. "People not wearing their helmets when they ride a bike?"

Offended, Seth stopped in his tracks. "And what do you mean by that?"

"You know exactly what I mean." The reaction only made Roman smile that much bigger. "Mr. Prim and proper."

"I'll have you know, I'm not all 'prim and proper'." Rollins puffed up his chest and continued to walk. "You don't even know the half of it!" A deep laugh from behind him made him realize that Roman was locked in place, still not believing him one bit. Huffily, Rollins stormed back over and got in the taller's face. With a pout, he punched him lightly in the chest. "Hey!"

"What?!" Roman couldn't stop the chuckles still coming from him.

"Stop laughing! I'm not some prude, okay? I can be fun and exciting! I can be a rebel!"

"Yeah well, talk is cheap." Roman smirked, leaning down into the doctor's space. "Prove it." He could tell his taunting was working, could see the cogs crashing against one another in the doctor's head. "We got all day."

Snapping, Seth grabbed Roman's wrist and dragged him out of the park. "Fine! I'll prove it!" Jumping in their vehicle, Rollins held out his hands. "Give me the keys!" Seth wasted no time in snatching them and cranking up the car. "I'll have to show you just like I did my parents," he grumbled before speeding off down the road. "You want excitement? I'll give you excitement."

:::

"Okay," Dean started, rubbing his chin and taking another sip of his water. "So Owens scares everyone except for Riley, who wants his head because he disrespected him. Alexa, Carmella and Bayley are the sweethearts and all good friends while Becky, Sasha, and Dana are a clique of mean girls. That chick over there Charlotte moved out but visits Bayley from time to time and that guy Mojo has been in the hospital for a while after his roommate, Bull put him there." Enzo nodded in confirmation, urging the man to continue. "You two don't like Blake and Murphy because the hit on 'Mella too often. Balor and Itami seem a little too close to just be friends but they're mostly to themselves like Baron. But you guys think Baron has some weird hatred towards his roommate Corey. Corey works as an assistant at the house alongside Rich and Tom—and they're all under the tutelage of Mr. Albert. And the head of this whole dysfunctional family, aside from Regal is..?"

"Mr. Helmsley." Enzo finished, very impressed how quickly Dean caught on. He soaked up information like a sponge. "He's given us a good amount of money to fix the place up and he visits regularly to make sure we're on our P's and Q's—you know, getting closer to getting our lives on track." Amore slyly leaned in to whisper. "But with such a sweet deal, who'd want to leave this place, know what I'm saying?"

His inability to whisper earned him a smack on the back of the neck from Cassady. The much taller man took a sip from his own water bottle, "Don't you want more outta life than that?" Amore was still sorely rubbing the back of his head, swearing under his breath. "Cause I do."

Defensively the little man held up his hands. "Why's it always gotta be like that? Of course I want more. You, me, Mella; I want all of us in a big mansion with all leopard everything. Designer clothes for her, fancy chef cooking dinner for you every night, and Netflix for me."

"That all you need, Zo?" Amusedly Colin took another sip.

"That's all I need."

Ambrose scanned the area, feeling more relaxed than he should around the two weirdos that he'd only just truly met a couple hours ago. They just seemed like cool guys. His eyes caught on to the semi-familiar red headed newcomer tip-toeing around nervously. "Who's that?"

Enzo was the first to locate the man as well. "Oh, that's Zayn."

Ambrose squinted his eyes in thought. "Zayn?"

"Yeah, Sami works at the looney bin some ways up the road."

"Looney bin?"

"Way to sound ignorant, Enzo." Colin rolled his eyes at the word usage. "He means that asylum place."

Dean suddenly came to picture the man. Right, he worked under Cesaro for a while. An intern or something. That didn't explain what he was doing here, though. Dean watched him finally get greeted by Regal. Well that wasn't good. Ambrose would have to make sure he stayed away from the youth because if Sami remembered him, his plan would derail completely. He could keep his distance.

When Zayn left the vicinity of William, he was again greeted with open arms by Neville. From his distance Dean couldn't read their lips but their body language told exactly where they stood with one another. Big almost nervous smiles were on their faces, their hands brushing ever so lightly. "My, I wonder what Breeze thinks about that." His words were more so to see what further synopsis Enzo and Cass could give.

Cass followed the gaze, very nonchalant. "Thinks about what? Sami and Adrian?" He eased down in his chair comfortably. "Well a lot more than he did a month ago." Ambrose's curiosity was easily readable on his face so Colin continued. "Adrian worked in the mail room of that asylum place where he met Sami. The two of them hit it off but see, Adrian was already with Tyler 'unofficially'."

Enzo willingly picked up where Cassady stopped, crossing his leg smartly. "So Neville introduced the two of them and came up with the idea that all three could work something out since he just couldn't choose between them."

Dean couldn't help think about his own situation. "That's...different."

"Sure, and they weren't all down for it at first." Enzo smiled a smile of admiration in their direction. "But they worked it out and Tyler's got a mouth on him for complaining but I ain't never seen him happier." As if to press the idea, Breeze walked up on Zayn and Neville, grabbing both their hands and yanking them along. Amore pointed emphatically at the trio. "I just think that when it's right, it's right, you know? And they are right for each other." He turned his attention back to Colin then, continuing to point his finger matter-of-factly. "See, that's why I say we need to convince Mella to get off the market and join us. The three of us are right, Cass."

"Oh geez, Zo." Colin shook his head and stood out of his seat apologizing to Dean. "I don't want to be around when he gets himself maimed by Carmella." The big man bid Ambrose adieu and began to walk off, Enzo not far behind.

"Hey, Cass! Wait up!"

Dean watched the men depart thinking nothing else but how peculiar they were. At least they were helpful and entertaining. But ugh, he really didn't want all this romance stuff anywhere near him. He didn't need anything reminding him of his own predicament. So much tension, so many chances for intimacy, and so much time to build friendships and then take them a step further: he didn't need anyone making him realize what he could have now that the three of them lived together. He already crossed the line creating a bond with Roman. He needed to keep giving Seth a hard time to keep from slipping into that mindset, to stay away from that realization.

But all this talk about love was making it incredibly hard.

His eyes caught Corey Graves as the youthful man walked by, nodding politely. Cute, that's what he was. Too nerdy to be as cool and punk as his appearance portrayed. Ambrose nodded and watched him walk away for a while but they settled on the larger man who was also staring at Graves. Corbin. Baron's cold eyes bore holes through the never wiser youth from across the park. That brought a smile to Dean's face. At least not everyone was head over heels for someone. With menacing Baron over his shoulder, he thought himself lucky not to be in Corey's shoes.

:::

Roman jumped out the car when they arrived home, falling to his knees and kissing the pavement. "I'm still alive!" Seth rolled his eyes, laughing and turning the car off. He walked right pass Roman and went to unlock the door but Dean opened it before he could knock.

Ambrose stood there in only his boxers expectantly a bowl of popcorn in his hands. He chewed on a couple kernels and checked his watch. "It's two in the morning." He glanced over his housemates. Roman had a streak of yellow in his wild hair and they both had a matching level of unruliness to their outfits. "You look like you had fun."

Rollins smirked and patted Dean's shoulder. "Exactly." He gave Roman a wink and continued into the house.

Ambrose waited for Reigns to gather himself and meet him at the door. "Where'd you two love birds end up going?"

"Everywhere." The loving sigh that came out was one of exhaustion as well. "First we went on a helicopter ride over the city and then he opens the door and tells me to jump. He pulls out a parachute, throws it to me and just dives into the sky. When we finally both hit the ground, he drives me to this abandoned building where a friend of his does body art so we do a piece together and make a picture—just using the paint on our body. We get cleaned up and he speeds over to this parlor where we got these temporary tattoos." Roman lifted his hand to show the fancy "S.R.D" scribbled across the back of his hand. Seth, Roman, Dean. Obvious one. "So then, its dark out but Seth doesn't want to go home yet. So he's riding around until he just stops and goes over with a can of spray paint, tagging every wall he could. And don't get me wrong, it was good artistically. But then the police came and Seth had me running through the back alleys until we lost them. We had to have been running for hour until they gave up. Finally we got back to the car and Seth sped all the way here." The big man sighed even heavier with a smile on his face. "And all because I asked him about that blonde patch."

Dean ran his hand through the yellow strands in Roman's own hair. "That's like a first, second, and third date."

"Yeah," Roman smiled, stepping in to Dean and cupping his face, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "And I'm glad you suggested it." Even in the dark he could see the pink rising to Ambrose's cheeks. "So you better top that when we go out."

"Shut up." Dean rolled his eyes and shoved the taller man into their home. He'd reprimand the two idiots for not picking him up later. For now he needed sleep.

* * *

Trying to get these coming so I hope they're good! ^^


	6. Revealing Out of the Asylum

Revealing Out of the Asylum

* * *

Roman was called in for work the next morning, the asylum being a bit short staffed for the weekend. Then again, Dean didn't take the date proposal all that serious so it was no skin off his back. Besides, he would finally get to stay in and relax. Waking early, Ambrose wasted little time in making himself a cup of coffee and plopping down right in front of the TV.

He wasn't alone for too long before heavy footsteps dragged down the stairs until they reached the couch opposite Ambrose's. The man threw himself on the furniture with a groan, hands sliding down his face tiredly. "Geez, what did I do last night?"

Dean smirked at the out-of-it doctor. "Apparently you channeled your inner Dean Martin."

Seth curiously lifted an eyebrow. "Dean Martin?"

"You know, rebel without a cause." Ambrose teased, becoming less interested in the show he was watching and more interested in the mess that was Seth Rollins. It was strange seeing the different sides of the two men, unusual.

"James Dean. You mean, James Dean." Corrected Rollins before continuing. "I had a cause, okay? I had something to prove to Roman."

"And what exactly was that?"

"That I'm not a square." Seth looked over to Dean's doubting face and chuckled tiredly. "So you believe it too? Great. Well," He rolled over in exhaustion, nuzzling down into the couch cushions, "I'm too tired to try proving myself again anytime soon."

Dean made himself even more comfortable in his seat, releasing a playfully sad sigh. "And I was really looking forward to our date."

Seth rolled to his back, and gave Dean a peculiar once over, actually considering the idea. Yesterday, Roman made an effort to talk him into loosening the strings on Ambrose. If they kept treating him as a patient, they'd never get their relationship where they wanted it to be. Roman also made him realize how much he'd neglected both men recently and he felt bad. Seth knew he couldn't just focus on his life anymore; there were other people he needed to consider and make time for—Dean definitely being the prominent one. And today it was just the two of them. Maybe they could stay in and bond, possibly cut some of the tension that had been building over the past week or so. He didn't really have it planned and he didn't know how to go about asking. The last thing Rollins wanted was to be rejected as well so he was very cautious about his question.

"What you gawking at?" Seth didn't realize he was staring at the man, his eyes refocusing to notice Dean's usual sneer. Ambrose waited for a moment more before asking again. "I said wh—"

"Do you wanna go out together?" Seth could just choke himself for the way he blurted the question out, even more so when he kept talking. "I mean just to get closer and maybe have some fun and we don't have to leave the house because I'm tired and I'm sure you're tired and…" He shrugged, "yeah." That didn't come out nearly as well as he hoped but at least he got the idea out.

"Oh, go out together, huh?" Seth watched as Dean's face turned from sneering to the picture of smugness in a matter of seconds. He could feel the retort coming and took a couch pillow to cover his face. "Dr. Rollins wants to take me on a date?"

"No, no, no." Seth shook his head, "Forget it, Dean."

Ambrose just smirked a little more. "What? I didn't even give you an answer yet." This was priceless, the nervousness of the Seth and the lack of confidence he had in getting a favorable response.

"If you're going to be like that, just forget I even asked, Dean." Embarrassed, Rollins covered his face deeper with his hands.

The smirk settled a tad bit, Ambrose obviously loving the position he was in and its effect on the doctor. "Look Seth, if you wanna hang out or whatever, I'm didn't plan on going anywhere but let's not call it a date because you usually go out with someone you at least kind of like." There was an almost unnoticeable twitch that passed over Seth's face with the rude but teasing words. Ambrose just seemed to miss its meaning. Seth could either accept his offer or be mad and go about his business. Dean would've been fine with either choice.

"Sure, Ambrose." Rollins tried to forego the dejection as he agreed to the terms but a part of him was still holding on to the words. He usually didn't let it get to him but the more he thought about how easy Dean was getting with Roman, the more he realized just how much harder the man was being with him. At first Seth just thought it was the way he showed affection, a little mean but not mean spirited; however, seeing him take so well to Reigns just made his heart ache on the inside. As much as he didn't want to consider it, there was a chance that Dean just didn't like him. It would explain his words and actions a bit better but that wasn't a pill he wanted to swallow—especially after all the time invested in making their relationship a reality. He wanted Dean to like him at least, if not love him eventually. Again, he must've zoned out because he was brought back by Dean nudging him to sit up on the couch so the man could join.

As Seth sat up, Ambrose looked him over, noting a slight disappointment on his face. Ah, it was probably nothing. Seth probably just really wanted to go out. Deano scooted in to prop Rollins' back up against his side, getting as comfortable as he could while he pulled out the remote. "I was gonna catch up on a couple of shows, maybe a movie of two."

"Don't care." Seth just shrugged with a yawn, scooting away from Dean to curl up on the other end of the couch. He really didn't want to think about being friend zoned—well less than friend zoned. He was in something akin to an "associate's area". It bummed him out and to sit there and watch TV under the pretense that something could actually come from their time spent, made him even more down and that much more tired.

Ambrose turned to notice Seth's eyes beginning to droop shut rather quickly. "Hey," Dean put a leg up on the couch to kick Rollins lightly. "Hey." The other man just yawned again and cuddled down into the cushions. "You can't go to sleep."

Rollins was too tired to argue, beginning to fade out. Dean probably didn't want his company anyway. "Why can't I? It's not a date, remember? And besides, you'd probably rather watch it with Roman."

Dean could almost laugh at the hint of jealousy underlying the words but he was more focused on keeping his company alert. He huffily kicked the man again. "Wake up! You're supposed to be—"

"I have no obligations to you." The words were drawn out and groggy, Rollins finding his comfy position and reveling in it. Seth yawned for a final time before letting his mind drift off to sleep.

Ambrose listened in annoyance as soft snores filled the air. "Loser," he shoved the now sleeping man one last time and rolled his eyes. "Why even make the offer?" Of course, he knew why but he just wasn't supposed to let it happen. He didn't want himself to make a connection with Seth—not even friendly. He couldn't allow it. Romance ruined everything, he was sure of it. It didn't seem fair keeping Rollins at such a distance considering how he was with Reigns but life wasn't fair so that justified it, right?

Dean rubbed his head with all the swirling conflicts. If only he didn't have opposing thoughts. Looking over the sleeping form of Rollins—so peaceful—it was hard not to think about all the good factors Roman talked about. Seth was insanely smart, tactile. He was intelligent, strong willed, determined, and admittedly, as Roman always emphasized, Seth was _pretty_. Not like a woman but still _pretty_: those lashes, the hair, and those lips. But still there were masculine features that made everything balance out: his hands, his jaw, the physique. The combination was enough to cause keep Dean staring at him from time to time. It was like, for as handsome as Roman was, Seth was reciprocally that much cuter and Dean was seeing more of his human side. Seth wasn't perfect and he wasn't all smiles and confidence. He picked on the stressed doctor often for his influx in emotions lately but Dean couldn't say he didn't like seeing his vulnerability. And just like with Reigns, the more Seth revealed about himself, the more Dean couldn't help but find himself attracted to Rollins. Man, being stuck between the two of them was killer on his psyche.

Ambrose stared at the doctor a little longer, sighing to himself and brushing some of his hair away from his face. Ignoring his growing feelings for the man was going to be hard. Ambrose drew his hand away slightly when Rollins let out a soft sigh of appreciation for the touch, a small smile on his sleeping face. Yeah, this was going to be very very hard.

:::

Seth jolted up from the couch, feeling his phone buzz against his face. Dizzy but alert he was able to make out Ambrose's smirk, surmising that the jerk must've sat it there when it started ringing. Childish. Through his fog, Seth picked up his phone and answered, hoping it wasn't important. "Hello?" The conversation was unbelievably short, Seth not responding verbally but instead with his eyes bulging nearly out of his sockets. Rollins ended the call and shifted his eyes over towards the windows. He tried to jump to his feet, stumbling first then scurrying to the glass. Cautiously he looked through the curtains before running to the front door and checking the peep hole. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, Rollins let out a relieved sigh and slid down the door. The relief soon washed away as he looked up to see Dean curiously standing over him.

Seth scrambled to stand, stumbling forward and pushing Ambrose a little, causing him to sway. "Sorry about that. Hey! I have an idea!" He straightened the man up and emphatically pointed up stairs and to the door behind him with opposing hands. "Why don't we hit up that concert for 3MB downtown? I can get tickets. You seem like a mosh pit type of guy and if they suck we can go see a movie or something! Either way, I think we should just get out and do something, don't you think?! Drive to the asylum for a visit if we have to, you know! Just jump in the car and go! Who wants to lay around the house all day, am I right? Good! I'm gonna get dressed now and I'll be ready to go in like three minutes!" Not taking any time to breathe, Seth ran through his sentences and flew up the stairs to get himself together.

Dean didn't even have time to ingest all of the words before Seth came back downstairs, a hurried mess and impatiently gasping at Dean. "What are you waiting for? Come on, let's go!" He shoved Ambrose down to his room, waiting desperately at the top of the stairs. Every few seconds, the reluctant man heard Rollins call with an "Are you ready, yet?" So fed up with the question, Ambrose took all of five minutes to get fully dressed and ready to move.

The two jumped in the car posthaste, Seth taking off for the concert with lightning speed. As much as he knew he'd have Ambrose to answer to for his behavior, he was gladder to have dodged a bullet by taking the warning from his caller. Right now, he needed to be out and about for his own good.

Dean became even more inquiring as Seth continually looked back into his rearview for the first five miles as they drove. He stayed quiet for a while until he just couldn't ignore the silence any longer. "What was that?"

"What was what?" The question sounded like it came from a mind that wasn't all present.

Dean raised an eyebrow and pointed his thumb behind them. "All that back there." He waited for Seth to show some kind of recognition before he continued. "First you're tired and content to laze around the house, then you get a call and suddenly feel the need to get up and go." He turned on the radio lowly, making sure his words could still be heard over the music. "And you rushed us both out, didn't even give me enough time to shower. You didn't even give yourself enough time to clean up. You look awful."

"Hey." Seth took the time to look over his outfit: a jacket, a simple plain t-shirt, jeans, and his confusingly laced tennis shows. Well, it wasn't his best look but he never usually put too much effort in on the weekends. It was supposed to be his time to relax away from the work look. He used the rearview mirror to examine his face also. His locks were beyond messy but at least he'd taken care of his oral hygiene and washed his face. But _awful_? Really? Getting to a red light, Seth tampered with his hair, finding it one of those days where it was just going to do what it wanted. He sighed in defeat, a little hurt behind Dean's words. "Geez, I'll try not to look less than perfect around you again."

Seth mumbled mostly to himself but Ambrose overheard, giving the doctor another glance. Rollins seemed to be in the same mood from earlier when Dean told him something about 'liking' him or something. He didn't remember what he said always, he talked quite a bit. But did he actually hurt his feelings? A tiny pang of guilt hit him across the chest and he tried to ignore it until Seth pulled over to try and fix his hair. Minutes passed as Rollins tried everything to get it into a style he could settle on.

Dean groaned finally and barked, "If it bothers you so much, just leave it like it is."

Seth rolled his eyes and stopped his ministrations to glare at Ambrose. "It wasn't bothering me at all. You're the one who seemed to be bothered by it. So now I'm going to take all the time I need so I don't look so _awful_."

Ah, so he was mad about that. Ambrose couldn't help but shake his head at his own doing. He did have a problem with running off at the mouth, usually saying the first thing that came to mind, true or not. And he honestly didn't think Seth looked bad at all but complaining at him seemed like a good conversation starter at the time. Dean sighed inwardly and turned towards the window. "You don't look awful." Seth blew off the words, continuing to straighten himself out so Dean turned and looked back to him. "I said you don't look bad. Cut it out."

"Ambrose, please." Seth shushed him and raised his hands to make a high ponytail but his wrist was grabbed by Dean. He angrily tried to snatch his hand away, only for Dean to grip harder and yank him instead. "Let go!"

"I said," Ambrose used his other hand to forcefully turn Seth's chin towards him, making their eyes lock, "you don't look awful." There was a silence and tension that passed in the car that ultimately brought a bright pink rising in Seth's cheeks. He sneered and shoved Ambrose away, taking the wheel and pulling back off.

Rollins made an effort to keep his eyes away from Dean and on the road. "If you don't mean it, don't say it to begin with." The words were juvenile but the idea was still as good as any.

Ambrose growled and turned to Rollins. "Well maybe if you hadn't rushed me, I wouldn't be so salty about it."

"You're always salty," Seth sighed. Hopefully Dean wouldn't be so much trouble because he really didn't need the judgment on top of his own situation. And if they could go the day without killing one another that would be even better.

:::

"Paint?"

"Yes paint."

"Body paint?"

Roman shook his head with a laugh. "Yes, body paint."

Jimmy looked to Jey, mischief in both their eyes. "Like painting..._with your bodies_?"

"We had on clothes, boys." Reigns laughed, flipping through some medical charts he filled out. The Uso brothers just didn't seem to be buying the innocence of his story.

"Clothes on, huh?" Jey tapped his brother playfully, his eyebrows going up. "You two knockin' boots with actual boots on?"

"Is that all you two think about?" Roman gave an embarrassed sigh and looked deeper into his work. "We didn't do anything, alright? It was just a date."

"I don't know, man. You said he tried to show you how much of a rebel he was. I'd think that would include him putting out just a little bit." For emphasis, Jey put his thumb and forefinger together in front of Roman's face. "Not even a little bit? A little taste?"

Completely red now, Reigns slammed his fist down on his desk. "What is your fascination with whether or not I sleep with someone?!" The Usos just smirked all the more at the outburst. "What?!"

"So it _was_ a little taste?"

Giving in, the nurse threw his hands up. "Oh dear—we kissed a couple times, okay?! When his adrenaline gets going he kinda just goes for it! But that's it!" The howls of victory were obnoxious as the brothers patted their cousin on the back. "You two happy?"

"Not nearly enough," Jey leaned on the table grinning. "We'll be happy when you make us blush like school girls too."

"I'm not blushing!"

"All I'm saying is that three sexy guys who have crazy chemistry, living under one roof, spending every day together..."

Jey held up his hands, Jimmy doing the same and finishing the thought. "That's the type of threesome people fantasize about." A swift punch to the gut shut Jimmy up quickly. "Okay, okay." Both Usos held up their hands in defense as they eased towards the door. "Don't take it out on us cause you ain't gettin' any." Roman jumped to his feet threateningly at the last comment but the boys were already gone, their laughs being heard from down the hall.

Those two poked fun at him every chance they got but it wasn't like they were the only ones. Everyone kept asking him for an update on his relationship with both men. They all seemed to be set on making sure the trio ended up with a perfect happy ending but personally Reigns wasn't sure he'd ever be able to do that. He grumbled wiping a hand down face. Things felt so complicated. He was getting closer to Seth, and he was getting closer to Dean, but the two of them separately seemed to be getting more hostile. It only worried him even more because of the conversation he and Seth had yesterday.

The doctor was becoming a bit discouraged and the stress only made it worse. Seth still hadn't admitted to what exactly he was stressing over, leaving it vaguely at "it's complicated". The secretive nature of the response was worrisome but Rollins asked him to trust that he was being faithful and the sincerity of the declaration was a bit comforting.

"Knock knock."

Just not comforting enough.

Roman waved an inviting hand to the lawyer standing in his door, urging the man to come in. Punk took an offered seat and crossed his legs at the ankle. "I came."

Reigns dropped his eyes to his hands, debating whether or not he wanted to go through with his decision. He was skeptical but no matter how he reasoned, the pros seemed to outweigh the cons. "Can you do me a favor?"

Intrigued, the man sat up a little straighter. "I guess within reasonable bounds. What kind of favor?"

"Just get me a little background information on somebody. Maybe even tail them for a few days."

The request was cautious and Punk could sense the apprehension. He tilted his head down to try and make we contact with Reigns. "You seem a little skeptical so I'm going to guess you're looking for some dirt on one of your boys. And you already know enough on Dean so that leaves..." Punk let the words hang and the lack of denial affirmed his thought. "You sure about this, Reigns? A lot of relationships fall apart because of this type of thing. You might find out something you don't want to know."

"No." The nurse shook his head against the proposal, unwilling to back down. "Whatever he's hiding, I know it's gotta be worth hiding. I just don't want him to get hurt and if I have to face consequences for that, I will."

Punk could see that Reigns was now completely behind his decision. There was no chance of him turning back now; the lawyer could see that clearly. Punk smirked and pulled out his phone, dialing up someone. "Hey. I need you to start digging for some information for me. Yeah. I'll be down to the station to help in a few but just get the preliminary clearance taken care of. How long we got? Let's say five business days. Cool. Oh, the name?" He looked over to Roman, silently asking for the final time if there were any objections. Still he saw no waiver and continued. Like he thought, no turning back. "The name is Rollins. Seth Rollins."

:::

Ambrose was deathly quiet sitting across from him in the pizza restaurant's booth. Seth could feel Dean's blue eyes suspiciously probing him as he purposefully gave his phone a good bit of his attention. Then again, he couldn't blame the man. He had every right to be so curious with the turn of events.

Halfway through the concert that morning, they had to rush off in accordance with another phone call's warning. At the go-kart track, the warning came after the first lap, causing them to leave early. The event was reoccurring for the next four places they went so he could see why there was some annoyance and skepticism. It wouldn't be too long before he'd have to start giving answers.

Ambrose tapped on the table, building up to his eminent question. He tried to ignore investigating for a while, actually having enjoyed Seth's company when he wasn't panicking. However, it was too difficult to avoid and the wait on the food brought back his curiosity. "Who you running from?"

Finally stopping his phone scrolling, Rollins glanced up slightly. "Running?"

"You owe some shark money or something?" Dean's deadpan face didn't change as he continued.

"No." Rollins chuckled with a hint of nervousness. "I told you it's nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Absolutely nothing?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Dean sighed, his face still the same. "Well," the movement was sudden, Rollins not being fast enough to stop it as Dean lunged across the table and grabbed Seth's phone from the table. Careful not to lock it, he held it tightly and checked his text messages.

"Dean, no! Come on!" Seth tried to get the device back, eventually standing up to rush beside the man on the other booth.

"You're sure doing a lot for nothing." Ambrose put the device down and easily locked the man's arms behind him in a full Nelson, being able to pick the phone up and continue his scrolling behind Seth's head.

The doctor squirmed in protest but to no avail. He sighed in desperation before blurting out. "My family! It's my family, okay?!"

Dean only stopped to loosen the hold momentarily before tightening it again. "Keep going." He could feel the man tense up but, after a while, ease up. "I'm waiting."

Rollins swallowed but forced the words out. "There's a family emergency going on and I really don't want to deal with it. My uncle's been calling me all day to tell me when the situation was coming my way so I could avoid it."

"Is that so?" Dean took a moment to ingest the piece of insight. "That everything?"

"Yes that's everything. Now can you please let me go? We're in public."

Dean gradually let go of the man before sliding him back his phone. Ambrose wondered about asking for something deeper but figured the little information he got was sufficient for the time being. He could conduct a full on interrogation when they got to the house and luckily they were getting their food to go.

Seth on the other hand, was dreading the short drive home. This was one time that living close was not appreciated. At least at home he could lock a door and hide if things got too intense.

Their pizza came in no time and the men were on their way. It was early in the evening, that time of day where the sun hadn't completely gone down but many street lights were on nonetheless. There was another hour before Roman came home and Dean planned to take full advantage of that fact.

Arriving at the house, Seth quickly grabbed the pizza box and leapt out of the car. Probably trying to run and avoid his questions, Dean surmised. "You can't run, Seth!" Ambrose yelled, speed walking after the man as he rounded a corner to the porch. The patient followed, stopping as he came face to back with Rollins. His accidental shove pushed Seth forwards slightly but the man didn't protest, didn't make any sound as he stiffly stood there. Ambrose went to complain about the collision but halted his words upon notice of Rollins' paralysis. "Seth? Yo, Doc?" He waved a hand in front of the man's face but still Seth stayed unmoving, eyes like saucers. Curiously Dean follows the gaze and noticed a black tinted car parked in front of their house—one that was neither Seth's sports car nor Roman's pick up. "Who's—"

Before Dean could get the words out, a figure stepped from the automobile. They were some meters away but certain details were in view. The person was a man, very somber in his threatening stroll over. He was tall, a little taller than Roman, his shorn hair into a low cut. The person had a look akin to Dean's own favorite jeans and graphic t-shirt trend. As the man drew nearer, more became clear: strong jawline, lean body, tattoos, and a cigarette hanging from his lips. The visitor didn't stop at that distance, however; he was close enough that both men could see the whites of his piercing faded blue eyes.

Who was this guy?

Ambrose nudged Seth from behind, grabbing the back of his shirt and stepping in front of Rollins' now dread-filled face. He stood toe-to-toe with the stranger. "Can I help you?"

The taller man just smirked at Dean, liking the challenge in his eyes. "I hope so."

"What do you want?" Dean didn't play around, feeling Rollins begin to ease away towards the house. He was trying to run again. Was this the situation Seth didn't want to deal with? This mystery man? This guy better not be a loan shark like he thought.

"Relax." The potential loan shark shook his head with the same smirk, his eyes mellow as he puffed from his cigarette. He flicked the bud and crushed it before blowing out the rest of his excess smoke. "I came for one thing."

"And what's that? Money?"

"No," the strange man advanced a little more before pointing back. "I came to see _him_." The word came out with such an unreadable tone—a morbid excitement jumping into the stranger's eyes. He cast his gaze back on Dean and held out his hand. "I'm Randy Orton, Seth's brother."

Brother?

* * *

Another chapter! I hope none of these seem rushed and I hope you're enjoying it!


	7. Admissions Out of the Asylum

Admissions Out of the Asylum

* * *

"Brother?" Dean looked between the two men at the dining room table. "You look nothing alike." Seth, tapping his finger against the table, still hadn't come back from his shock of seeing Randy. Worry, panic, and every negative emotion he had was written across his face.

Orton smartly gave Dean an answer while his smirk continued to mock Rollins. "We were both adopted by the same family. So we aren't blood related but I consider him family." He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward a bit, keeping his attention on Ambrose for a moment. His eyes seemed to scan the man for an assessment before he spoke. "And who are you? Didn't quite catch your name."

Dean grumbled under his breath, "Didn't throw it."

"Pardon?" Randy nudged his ear with a finger.

"Why do you need to know?" He couldn't stop the way the words snapped out but, something about Orton left him unsettled and annoyed. Seth's anxiety wasn't just normal "embarrassing family" anxiety. There had to be more to the situation and Dean grew more interested to find out what.

It was no doubt that the frustrated man didn't trust him, and Randy sort of liked that for now. It would probably get bothersome after too long. That could be a quick fix; Ambrose couldn't be that hard to win over. It certainly would irk Seth, just like his next comment. "I want to be able to call you something since I'm going to be staying here for a while."

"What?!" Seth was the first to his feet, protest flying out with his words. Randy's smile only grew wider until the doctor couldn't stand it. He swallowed the yell that threatened to come out and instead asked Orton into another room.

Leading Randy into a bathroom, Seth turned and locked the door, turning back around to find that the larger tatted man had him boxed in against the door. He couldn't help the unusually weak "eep" that slipped from his mouth.

"I'm back." Orton taunted, his teeth sharp and glinting with his malicious grin. "But you don't seem all that happy to see me."

Seth took a moment to try and calm his nerves. This was the last thing he wanted to happen, his worry after all this time finally coming to fruition. There were so many questions he could've squeaked out, so many that needed answers but all he could muster was a halfhearted comment. "You can't stay here, Randy. This is my house and—"

Rollins was cut off by a hard slap across his face, one that made his head snap to the side. As his hand quickly went up to cover the exposed cheek, Randy punched him in the stomach, causing the man to double over in pain. Orton let the impact of his blow sink in before sighing. "Don't tell me what I can't do, Seth. Especially knowing where you stand with me."

Seth leaned against the door, cursing himself for already wanting to flee. So much preparation for the worst with his family over the past days and he still wasn't ready for any of this. Then again they didn't cover _if_ Orton actually showed up. "You can't—" He stopped himself mid-sentence and swallowed, visibly seeing Orton preparing to throw another punch. "You won't do anything to me while we're in here."

The words earned him a deep, mocking chuckle from the other man. That was not a sound Seth missed. Randy moved back to sit on the toilet top casually. "You're right. Though I want to, I _won't_ kill you in this bathroom." The permanent smirk dropped suddenly to the most hateful glare Seth had ever seen. "But make no mistake, I'm going to kill you."

There was an audible gulp from the doctor, one that filled the room. He had to get it together but being closed in with his menace was too distracting. At least he knew he was safe for the moment. It gave him a little bit of false courage. "You won't get the chance."

"Oh?"

"Dad already knows you're here. He's had a read on your location all day so he's probably on his way right now."

"Pfft," The intruder scoffed. "I bet you wish that were the case. But you see, the thing is, your uncle doesn't have the slightest idea where I am."

"That's what you think but he's been telling me where you were all day. Your tracker from the—"

Orton lifted his pant leg to the missing bracelet and raw skin of his ankle. "It was a pain to get off but I put that stupid tracker on someone else. And it wasn't hard to pay a guy to tail you for a few hours as a distraction. Asking him to drive out of state cost extra but it was worth it. I'm here."

Disbelief rose up along the features of Seth. "Then if you weren't following us, what were you doing all day?"

"What do you mean?" Randy took some time to answer, amusedly looking up and pointing around the room. "I've been here all day." The terror coming off of Rollins made him grin. "This morning when you left, you also left the door open so I just let myself in. Checked the rooms, made myself comfortable, assumed what I could by going through your roommates' stuff. Though..." He shrugged and folded his arms. "I get the feeling that you three are more than just roommates."

Seth hadn't seemed to change his expression at all. The panic was still evident, a new worry showing in his face as Randy revealed just how much he'd been lurking around in just a few hours. That only bode to ask how much Orton saw and snooped through—probably way more than he wanted the man to. This was terrible. "How?" It was a soft whisper.

"Did I get out?" The question was rhetorical; Orton knew exactly what Seth was referring to with the simple interrogative. "Killed a few guards, stole some money, jacked some cars. I did whatever it took to get away from that place and, in turn, find you." Rising from his seat, Randy advanced as he spoke. He walked Seth as closely as possible against the door. "And for making me work so hard, you're letting me crash here, Rollins. Right upstairs in that empty guest bedroom."

"I'm not letting you stay here!" Seth showed slight signs of anger among the fearfulness embodying him. It faded just as soon as Randy sneered at him. "I-I can call daddy right now and end all of this!"

A snort of laughter mocked Seth as it rolled out from Orton. "Yeah, call your _daddy_ and you'll end _all_ of this." He darted his eyes all around for emphasis. "The house, your job, and your little family here: all gone." Randy could see Seth's confusion and stopped him before his lips could purse and ask a question. "Like I said, your uncle has taken a lot of people to go find the guy I paid off so dad is short on security. If he moves to come get me, it'll be on his own and we both know wherever dad goes, the media follows." Rollins couldn't deny how true that was.

"We both know he'll try to spin this story but even if he disowns me, it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out my connection to him. And after that whole incident with Punk, I doubt the man will let anyone rest at the police station when it comes to investigating our father." Another sure shrug from the tatted guest followed, "That being said, the implications for you are that either dad disowns you too or he tries to make you a hero. You get disowned and you get cut off so you lose the house, the money, and your family. You become a hero, dad will have to send you away to avoid all the interrogation. In which case… _you'll lose the house, most of the money, and especially your little family._" The words came off as a chuckle, Randy finally seeing all the realization of being trapped come over Seth's face. "So take your pick."

Why? Why did this have to happen? Why now after six years? Seth ran his hands over his face, attempting to calm his nerves. He was caught between being angry because of the abrasive Orton, being anguished over Randy's threat, and being completely uneasy about how he would explain any of this to Dean and Roman. Dean would love to have this leverage over him, he was sure but Roman…

He had just gotten on such good terms with the Samoan. If Dean was so hostile to accept Randy, he was sure that Roman—already harboring some suspicion of his infidelity—wouldn't take to kind to this whole thing. But it wasn't like he could hide it. Ugh, this was truly a mess. "How long do you plan to stay?"

There was a defeat in Seth's voice that Randy just loved. Getting his way was just what he needed after such a long time locked away under someone else's rule. "However long I need to before I can sink my teeth into my pray." To add emphasis, Randy quickly lifted both his hands to choke out the doctor, pressing him out against the wood behind him. His squirming was too delightful, causing another malicious smirk to paint Orton's face. "You don't know how long I've wanted this, how long I've wanted my revenge." Randy whispered as he tightened his grip, "And honestly, I don't know if I can control myself. Your pulse right under my fingers. Your life right here in my grasp." Rollins began to kick at the door, hoping to draw some attention to his situation. Because he knew Randy, and his threat wasn't empty. Orton walked too close along the border of sanity. His thoughts were cut short when Randy used his height to his advantage and lifted the man a couple inches off the floor. Now he certainly couldn't breathe. Frantic, Seth pounded his hand against the door as well as kicked it as much as he could. "So close to _death_. I could kill you right now."

"Hey!" Randy and Seth's eyes darted towards the door, all breathing stilling. "Romans' home. You know how he likes for you to greet him at the door." Which was a complete lie but Dean's disinterested voice was Seth's saving grace. Even if Dean didn't like him at least he cared enough to save him from impending death. It was only then that Seth realized how worked up Randy had gotten himself; the tatted man was inhaling and exhaling deeply to try and gain his composure.

Orton quickly released the vice grip and shook himself back to relaxation. Coolly, he shoved Seth out the way and strolled out the bathroom.

Seth let out a deep stress filled sigh. Without looking in the mirror, he was certain his neck would be bruised. One more thing to try and explain. Couldn't convincingly blame that on brotherly rough housing. "Geez," the little sting from the tender flesh was going to drive him crazy. Guess he'd break out some scarves until it faded. Leaving the bathroom, he'd wished he came up with a sure plan of action, especially rounding the corner to find Randy face to face with Roman.

But they weren't fighting or even stiff. It was like a regular first meeting; pleasantries, handshakes, and smiles.

"I told him it was your step brother." Seth didn't turn around, though he jerked his head to the side. Dean. "Told him that's why you were so jittery lately. Had family coming in town and you had to make arrangements for his stay or whatever. I think he bought it."

Relief washed over Rollins momentarily but he could feel Ambrose's breath on his ear as the man made sure he heard the next words. "Of course, you're going to have to tell me what's really going on if you want me to keep lying for you." Leave it to Ambrose to make it sound so harsh. Seeing that he had no other choice, Rollins just nodded in agreement. He'd deal with it all once his nerves were better but for now this would be fine.

Randy excused himself to go upstairs and get comfortable in his new room while Roman made his way over to his boys. Dean turned on his way to the kitchen leaving Seth and Roman. The two took a moment, staying behind. In a good mood, the Samoan hid none of his affection, giving Seth a big kiss on the palm as he got close. He took the palm and rubbed it against his stubble. "It feels so good to be home."

"Long day?"

"The longest." He kept his words under his breath, amusement coloring him. "I can't believe he's what you've been stressing over."

Seth sighed heavily. "It wasn't just him coming but—"

"I already know. He told me everything and Seth, you didn't have to hide it." Seth knitted his brow together, in disbelief that Roman would be smiling still if he knew the truth. He certainly wouldn't be giving him this understanding gaze either. "You don't have to be embarrassed about your brother doing a little time—especially not for something minor like vandalism."

Seth just accepted the phony crime Randy claimed for what it was. As long as Roman wasn't biting his head off, he guessed.

They walked in the kitchen to find Ambrose rummaging through the fridge only breaking to groan out his question. "What's for dinner?" Dean stopped and went over to poke Rollin's chest. "You're feeding me since you dropped the pizza."

"I did?" Oh, right. They did have food. Well, that was one more thing to be upset with Randy over. "Guess I'll fix up something quick."

"You two went out for pizza?" Roman rubbed his shoulder against Dean's in elation, speaking low amongst the three of them. "I can't believe you actually had a day together without killing one another. That's something to celebrate. Maybe I'll take you both out soon." The serious tone of the option brought forth a much unwanted pink to both of the smaller men's cheeks, each turning away from the other huffily.

"I only went out because Seth made me."

"Dean told me I looked awful."

"And we didn't even get to stay in one place."

"Then he put me in a full nelson for no reason."

Each continued to grumble and nitpick about the day until Roman took it upon himself to shut each up with a soft peck on the lips. Ambrose feigned anger and punched Roman's shoulder before storming down to his room while Seth tried to hide his embarrassment in the living room. Alone in the kitchen, Reigns sighed contentedly. Those two were just loveable.

Roman heard footsteps from upstairs and remembered their guest. Hopefully now, Seth could be back to normal since all the worry about them being judgmental was out of the way. Now they could get back on the track of making their relationship work—especially since Roman himself was at ease about Seth's possible affair. It all just made his favor from Punk seem so unnecessary. If only he had trusted Seth. At least he and Punk could laugh about it, maybe. A yawn escaped his lips and only then did he see how tired he was. He'd call the lawyer in the morning after he recuperated. It had truly been a long day.

:::

He really did mean to get to the bottom of everything but the ripping and running affected him more than he realized. On top of that, Seth's quick-fix-dinner put him right to sleep. Then he was rushed out of the house this morning for the second time in two days so he wouldn't be late for work. Rollins was annoyingly elusive sometimes. Ambrose figured he'd just have to force an explanation out of that weasel sooner than later. He couldn't hide the truth forever, especially what was going on with Orton. The guy just didn't sit well with Dean. There was something unsettling about the man, something edgy and not in a good way.

"Mr. Ambrose?" A short rapping came from the door frame, getting Dean's attention. He looked up to meet the eyes of one of Regal's charmingly vibrant assistant. "You got a minute?"

"Dean. Just Dean." Ambrose stressed, waving a hand to invite Corey into his office. Graves sauntered in with a small smile, hands in his pockets casually and a folder under his wing. "And yes."

"You know, you're going to have to get used to being called 'Mr.' and 'Sir' in this profession. It's just normal." The words were joking as Corey leaned on the back of one chair. "Anyway, Regal is out picking up one of our guys from the hospital but he has a counseling session and he was wondering if you'd take it. He said it was an easy client but if you don't feel comfortable on your own, I can—"

Dean grabbed the file without objection. "Nah, I'll take it. Use the time for a little practice before my break." He winked to the younger worker and waved him off.

"Thanks, Dean." Just as Corey turned to leave, he ran into a wall of flesh and jean jacket. His groan of pain was low before he looked up to recognize the person. "Oh hey, Baron. Sorry about that, big guy." Graves smiled up brightly at the perpetually dead pan roommate. Perhaps, just used to it. He soothingly massaged the area he bumped before giving a nod and strolling away.

Corbin just stood there, still plain-faced, before allowing his hands to come up to caress the spot where Corey's hand was. He inspected his fingers and then looked back to the door, stilling again for what seemed like minutes. Finally he exhaled deeply through his nose and followed after the man.

Watching from the sidelines, Dean only hoped that Baron wouldn't do anything too irrational. He wasn't fond of any of the misfits really, but Graves didn't seem like he caused any problems. Then again, what did he know? Little twerp could've been a nightmare of a roommate. You just never knew with people. Which was exactly why he kept his guard up around Regal.

"Ambrose!" Ugh, not this kid again. "You're late Ambrose!"

Dean checked his watch and rolled his eyes. One minute late and Tyler was already blowing a gasket. Wait, "I don't have an appointment with you today."

Breeze scoffed and folded his arms. "Of course not. Adrian does and I'm trying to set an example on being punctual." Smartly, Tyler shoved Neville in the room and switched away. His business was done here.

Adrian sighed on the inside before softly chuckling. "He's a handful." Dean couldn't disagree with that. Neville tiredly fell into a chair and took a moment before addressing Dean. "Are you prepared or do you need a minute?"

Slouching in his uniform, hair a bit frazzled; Adrian looked exhausted. "You look like you're the one who needs a moment." Ambrose smirked to the man and suggestively pointed out the door. "The missus been keeping you up?"

"Kinda." The Englishman snickered again but ran a hand through his hair. "It's just clashing personalities, is all. And that on top of work…" He made a faint explosion sound. "I'm just a little worn."

"Go on." Dean pulled out his notepad and pencil reluctantly. A lot of these kids really didn't need all their personal problems jotted down but it was an accountability thing. He didn't want Regal to fire him. Then revenge would be that much farther out of reach. He placed the lead behind his ear and prompted conversation. "Maybe I can help with that relationship stuff."

Neville looked like he was uncertain about confiding in the older man. "I don't think you'd be able to help with that aspect."

"Why not?" It seemed as though Adrian was debating over what type of answer to give but Dean already knew the answer. He understood the situation. "Me and my two guys probably went through the same things." Neville slowly turned his head in shock, meeting Dean's very serious eyes. Just to drive his point home, Ambrose pulled up a picture of the three of them on his phone—just a casual one of the trio in the kitchen. Roman took it and changed it to his background when he wasn't paying attention but even now he didn't particularly feel the need to alter it any more. "What's it been? Like a year or so? But it ain't all sunshine and daisies in our house." He put his phone away and took his pencil down, almost certain that Neville would feel slightly comfortable now. "So I'm sure you two can't have as much trouble as we do."

"No, there's three of us too." An almost joyous smile came to Adrian, obviously relieved that he actually had someone to talk to.

"Really?" Ambrose did his best to play oblivious, figuring he'd keep his previous knowledge unknown. Didn't want to scare the kid.

"Yeah, it's only been about a month for us." Affectionately, Adrian smiled. "His name's Sami."

"Sami, huh? Does he stay here?"

"No and—" Neville began to pick shyly at his fingers. "Well see that's the issue. He's got his own place and he wants me and Tyler to stay with him one of these weekends. And I wouldn't mind but Breezy..." He ran another hand through his hair and sighed. "Breezy doesn't exactly want to stay because it's an apartment. And he comes from a rather wealthy family so..." The stress was really weighing on him. "So between the two of them bickering, I'm just," to accentuate his new explosion sound Adrian opened his eyes and raised his eyes brows. "I don't know if this whole thing was such a good idea. A man can only take so much, and I feel like I'm at my limit."

These children. Such a simple problem and here poor Neville was pulling his teeth over it. Ambrose scribbled nonsense just for the pretense of making it seem like he was working. "Listen, I'll talk to the creampuff and try to bring him back to reality but I think you three should find a day to go out—maybe to a little mom and pop shop—and discuss it. Not argue, not talk all over one another, but actually discuss the issue. Tyler's got to realize that you basically live in barracks here; an apartment would be way better. Your other guy, Sami, needs to see that it'll take a little time for you both to adjust. And Adrian," Dean could tell that the shorter man was eagerly taking the advice in. And in that instance, he realized what power he had in his position but surprisingly he didn't want to abuse it. There was a little piece of him that wanted to actually help. Probably the praise he would get afterwards when everything worked out. Yeah, that was it obviously.

"Adrian, you need to mediate. You seem like you're the back bone of the relationship. It's only been a month in so I'm sure you three are still trying on hats, you know, seeing which role each of you fits in to but you can't be the only link they have to one another. So I would suggest you give them time to build their relationship separate from what they have with you. There are three people. Everyone has to get along with everyone." The last part came out with a chuckle, one that influenced Neville to release a relieved chuckle of his own. It was amazing how in mere minutes he looked a lot livelier and a lot less stressed.

Adrian recapped the words to himself with an assured nod. It all made sense so why not try the advice? Giving Ambrose a smile, Neville sat up straighter in his chair. Yes, he looked much more alive now. "I'll see what I can do." With a renewed confidence in his smirk, Adrian stood to walk out but stopped only to thank Dean again and tell him how helpful he'd been.

Ah, what a marvelous stroke to his ego.

Dean checked the time and agreed to go through with his plan. With a little extra time to spare he could go outside and catch some air. Being stuffed in an office all day was not his cup of tea so he grabbed a cup of coffee and headed outside.

Ambrose went to find a quiet spot outside but stopped as he saw Regal's car entering the driveway. So much for his break. Sipping the lukewarm liquid, Dean approached the car and politely opened the door for his boss. "Mr. Regal. Glad you made it back safe."

"Thank you, Dean." The doctor gave his sweet elderly smile as per usual. "How was the session with Neville? Not too bad, I hope."

"Well it wa—"

"Mox, is that you?!"

Ambrose stopped abruptly. The intrusive exclamation made every muscle tense and every nerve sensitive. How could he forget about _that_? He darted his eyes over to Solomon's and tried his best to silence the man with his stare alone. Then he looked at Regal. If the man suddenly relapsed from the name and found out his past with Dean, the patient would never forgive Crowe. Luckily William didn't seem to comprehend what was said.

"Mox! You're out!"

Why would Solomon say it again? Dean hurriedly but casually strolled over to Crowe and shook his hand. "You're Solomon Crowe, right? The guy that was in the hospital, right?" He barely gave the smaller man a chance to talk before guiding him to the building. "You're probably still tired. Here let me help you in."

The two quickly scurried into the place, a confused Regal still standing outside.

Solomon nearly tripped over his feet with all of Dean's insistent yanking, almost colliding with the man as he was pulled into the other man's office. His back was rammed into the slammed shut door and he met face to face with the crazy eyes of his best friend. Not shaken in the least, Crowe sighed. "You know, you didn't use to put your hands on me so much. Is this going to become a common thing, Mox?"

Ambrose slapped a hand over the young man's mouth. "Don't call me that! What did I tell you!?" The confusion on Solomon's face confused even Dean but it made sense after a while. Right. He had nearly killed the man over addressing him by the opposite during their last encounter. Quickly he made up an explanation. "Look, since I got out of the asylum, I've decided to take your advice, alright? I'm gonna put that old name behind me and get my life back on track. So for my sake, just keep calling me Dean."

Crowe took all of the excuse in and raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He looked around the office, seemingly pondering something. "So you're working here now? You a counselor?"

"Yeah." Ambrose tried to play it as cool as he could, lying through the skin of his teeth. "I needed to find a job and Seth figured this was a good place since I was kind of familiar with it."

Crowe examined Dean carefully. "That the only reason? I mean, you're working pretty close with Dr. Regal. Trying to take his job or something?"

Dean laughed lightly. "Nah. I'm just trying to earn some cash. I figure if he likes me, I may get a bonus." The two of them shared a good round of chuckles before Solomon slapped Dean clean across the face.

Furious, Dean snapped his head around to bite Solomon's head off but the shorter man beat him to the punch, an accusing finger jabbed in Dean's direction. "Don't insult me, Mox. You think I'm stupid?" He could see some of the anger start to dissipate in Ambrose but in Crowe it grew. "I'm your best friend. You think I don't know who Regal is to you?"

Besides his own anger reflected, Dean could see slight pain in Crowe's face. He was almost guilty about lying then. Almost. "So you knew he was here?" He wanted to boil into frustration but his friend beat him to the punch again.

"Don't start with me!" He shoved Dean back. "Don't even start with me! I was trying to keep you from doing the exact same thing you're trying to do now!" Crowe was never truly angry at him—couldn't be—but he wasn't one to back down from or even lose a shouting match. "You get out and the first thing you do is run back to the man who put you in the asylum in the first place! Like, I don't understand you sometimes!"

"That's because you don't understand wanting reve—"

"Ricker nearly killed me too, in case you forgot, but you don't see me running around trying to get him back. You think I don't want to?" Solomon tried to sigh away his frustration, stepping off the wall to confront the other in finality. Honestly, he was just tired after being in the hospital so long. He hadn't meant to be so snappy but Ambrose could do that to anyone. "Look Dean, I won't call you 'Mox' within earshot of the doctor but I won't have anything to do with what you got planned against Regal. I hope you have enough sense to reconsider but all I'm going to say is there's a reason he doesn't remember you. Think about that."

Crowe turned to leave but stopped in the door frame and turned back. He glanced over Ambrose and sauntered back, embracing the man that he just chewed out in a hug. "By the way, I'm glad you're working here. I missed you." Before giving Dean time to return any action, he went on his way, more than likely to his room.

Only Solomon would be able to come in, lay hands on Ambrose, jump down his throat and not get beat down. Only Solomon Crowe. If they weren't best friends, he would've thought the man a little unbalanced upstairs but he had a lot more sense than people gave him credit for. Which was a gift and a curse for Dean himself because now he actually began to think about what the man said. What could he have meant? There was a reason Regal didn't remember him? He'd always assumed that it was the name change and the years away but was there something else?

Expect a guy like Crowe to come in and cause such a quandary. Dean rubbed his forehead to try and soothe his mind. He needed to finish work. Only a few more hours and he could go home.

But even there, he had the situation with "Seth's brother" to look into.

Ugh. Tonight felt like the perfect night to go out drinking with Roman—and surprisingly he wasn't against inviting Seth along.

* * *

I am on a roll XD I'm glad you guys are liking it! Hopefully I can keep them coming, for you especially **Chocolate Reignz**! Until next week, guys!


	8. Opening Out of the Asylum

Opening Out of the Asylum

* * *

Sadly, Seth and Roman weren't as game as Dean would've hoped, their reason being that it was a weeknight. Understandably so, Ambrose survived through until Friday night, finding it a much more appropriate time to ask. Both were more than willing then and Randy wasn't shy about including himself in the endeavor. So now all four sat by the bar top: Seth annoyed, Dean amused, Randy calm, and Roman clueless.

Reigns worriedly peeped around the men down to the seat where Rollins was. "You might want to slow down, Seth."

"Nah, I think he's good." Ambrose grinned deviously at the doctor while the man knocked back two shots, making it four in the last two minutes or so. It was a spectacle really—and after only one week with his so-called brother.

It was amazing that for as intelligent as Roman was, he hadn't noticed how uneasy Randy made Seth. He still referred to the guy as "pretty cool". Then again, Orton seemed to be on his best behavior in front of Reigns, a little flirty even. Not that it was hard to get in ever-trusting Reigns' good graces. His oblivious nature could be endearing but sometimes it was annoying.

"He's not exactly a lightweight." Randy commented, ordering more shots for the doctor before rising to his feet. "Anyone up for a game of pool?" It was an open question but clearly meant for Reigns as the visitor looked him over expectantly.

Roman checked with the other two before shrugging. "Why not?" Neither looked too thrilled at the idea so someone had to oblige Orton. Besides, he wanted to get some stories about Seth out of Randy; siblings always had the best stories.

Ambrose kept an eye on the men as they walked away from the bar, inwardly gritting his teeth at the way Randy "innocently" slung his arm around Roman's shoulder. He simply didn't trust the snake of a man, wouldn't trust him. There just had to be another side—one that put Seth here at the bar tonight.

Speaking of which, Dean turned to the doctor curiously. Maybe that liquid courage would allow a few of the hard questions he had to be answered. He caught the glass as Rollins raised it to his lips, placing his hand over the rim. Seth seemed a tad miffed at the interference but Ambrose was quick to smooth it over by asking, "So how was your week?"

Surprisingly, Rollins was willing to oblige with an answer, slumping down on the bar in exhaustion. "Rough. He's going to ruin my life." He scratched lazily at the wood of countertop, looking much more wasted than he actually was. "Randy is going to be the death of me. _Literally_."

"Literally?" The emphasis wasn't lost on Ambrose's part. He'd had his suspicions about Orton since the whole bathroom incident and he wouldn't be surprised by any evidence that pointed to a dysfunctional relationship.

However, Seth looked up at Dean, his mind completely ignoring the question to inquire something of his own. "You never told me about how it's working out for you at the halfway house."

Ah, so Rollins' tongue was loose but not that loose. Maybe a couple more drinks and he'd try again. "It's been pretty good. The kids there are kinda...weird."

"Since you hadn't complained about it, I figured you enjoyed being there." Seth began to giggle teasingly. "Dean Ambrose being a guidance counselor for the youth: I never would've thought it real."

Dean rolled his eyes and began to sip from the glass Seth was denied. "Well, I've been young before."

"You're still young." A little chuckle proceeded as Rollins folded his arms under his head for comfort. "Regal tells me that they really like you." Ambrose looked to be about to ask something so Seth continued. "It might be from being at that house but he's like a school teacher; calls to praise you on days when he thinks you did really well, gives critiques sometimes. Mostly though, he just has words of encouragement he wants me to pass along."

That was nice, so unlike Regal. It made Dean huff and think back to Solomon's words. There was a reason for William's turn around but what could that reason be? Leave it to Crowe to forget elaborating on the important information. Dean shoved Seth lightly, the man rocking a bit. "How come I haven't heard any of these words of encouragement?"

"Didn't want them going to your head. Besides, you wouldn't have listened to his critiques anyway." Rollins rolled his eyes matter-of-factly while he waved a dismissive hand around.

Ambrose couldn't deny that so he downed the rest of the drink, ready to switch subjects. Those brats were the last thing he wanted to think about. Dean looked over his shoulder and sneered. Randy whispering something to Reigns; by the smirk on Roman's lips, Dean could only imagine what kind of things were being said. "You need to put a leash on him," the words were grumbled loud enough for Seth to hear but Rollins only scoffed in amusement.

"No use. He's not really interested in Roman, just does it to annoy me." Seth glanced back to see Orton now licking his lips and threading a few fingers in Roman's hair. "I'm only worried how far he'll take it."

Dean smartly rubbed his finger around the top of the empty glass. "As far as Roman will let him." Seth's pleading eyes held a question that even Dean could read. And it wasn't like he cared but for some reason he felt the need to reassure the wasted man. "Don't worry. That's not too far. Probably flirting, little touches, pretty words; Roman's not the type of guy to just get with anyone. Besides, he's got better taste than that creep." Almost immediately, Dean regretted saying anything.

The disdain left Rollins and was replaced with appreciation. Seth nearly knocked Ambrose off the stool with the impact of his sudden hug. Strong arms wrapped themselves around Dean's chest and Rollins very cozily snuggled his face into it. "Thank you."

Too sweet and uncomfortable for patient's tastes, Dean tried to push Seth back upright but the tipsy man disentangled his limbs just to wrap them around the other's neck now. He rubbed his face up against Ambrose's own stubble and repeated his "thank you" emphatically. Dean luckily didn't have to force Rollins off after another minute or so, the man dropping a soft peck on Dean's cheek before sauntering over to Roman and Randy.

There was a sneaking suspicion that Seth was just leaving to avoid further prodding but Dean brushed it off. Rollins was too far gone for that to be the case. He wasn't there for an interrogation anyway. Ordering up another round of beers, Ambrose took them over to his cohorts. Drinking the night away seemed like a better idea.

:::

"He needs to go." Ziggler nodded with Brad's proclamation. "Like, as soon as possible."

Seth sighed with a nod of his own. They were preaching to the choir on this one.

"Brother or not, making moves on your guy? That's just asking for trouble." Dolph folded his arms, thinking. "And no offense, he looks great."

"Yeah, your brother does look great."

"Right, and so he actually has a chance of stealing your boyfriend." Dolph sipped from his coffee mug, intrigued by it all. "At least he's not hitting on Ambrose, right?"

As not to offend, Maddox jumped in towards Seth with his own words. "Not that there's anything wrong with him. He's just an acquired taste."

"Like beer."

"Well, he's more like flat beer."

"Gentlemen, please." Seth raised his hands for silence after Dolph and Brad's back and forth. Rubbing his forehead, Rollins looked down at the checkered table cloth. While a bit crude in their explanation, his friends were right. He needed to get rid of Orton. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't compare my boyfriend to flat beer!"

Maddox beat Ziggler to the punch of commenting, smiling broadly in the doctor's direction. "So Ambrose _is_ your boyfriend?" A frustrated blush began to rise in Seth's cheeks as he realized his own words. "You told us you wanted a relationship with him a while ago but, we never got confirmation that he actually went for it."

Seth stumbled for words, his mind going back to their 'date'. Dean had been a lot nicer to him since then. Was he actually cozying up to the idea of them together?

"Twenty bucks says that he already slept with both of them," Brad whispered too loudly to Dolph, causing Seth to snap out of his haze and nearly choke on his coffee.

Instead of helping the man, Ziggler held out his hands in triumph. "Looks like you owe me twenty."

"Put it on my tab." Brad slapped his hand away and stood from the table to move over to the basement door. He pressed his ear against it and looked back to Seth. "He's not here, right?"

Trying to clear his throat, Seth coughed a bit more before growling in a shout, "What kind of bet was that?!"

Brad just rolled his eyes, taking the answer as a 'no'. With a single finger, he beckoned Ziggler to his side. "Let's just see what he's got going on down here."

As they twisted the knob, Seth began to rise. "What are you two doing? Guys?" With each word, the visitors slowly opened the door more. "Guys, stop!" Before Rollins could stop them, Dolph and Brad bolted down the steps to Ambrose's room. "Idiots!" Seth followed after, stopping when he nearly ran into them both.

"So clean,.." Dolph whispered in appreciation.

"Smells good too." Maddox added on.

And Seth had to agree. It faintly smelled like the cologne he bought Ambrose. Only then did it dawn on him how little he actually came in the man's personal space since he assigned him the room. Which was all the more reason that they didn't belong down there. "If Dean comes home and finds us down here, he'll—"

"How do you know? Did he say _not_ to come down here?" Seth didn't answer Brad again so the man continued his search, finding comfort on Dean's bed. "You know, from all the stories floating around in the asylum, you would not expect any organization from Ambrose."

Dolph nodded and took a seat on the black leather love seat. "And look," Ziggler scanned a couple open books on the coffee table as well as two thoroughly used notepads, impressed by what he read. "Someone's been working hard."

Ashamedly curious himself, Rollins tip-toed over to the coffee table. Reading over a few things from the literature, he squinted skeptically. It was familiar information. "Wait…" Keeping the page, he flipped to the front of the many books and almost laughed. "So this is where they all went. I was wondering why the bookshelf in my office looked so empty."

Maddox stood to go investigate other things, teasingly questioning. "You think he's been reading them?"

"I know he has," Seth became jovial at the thought. He picked up a notepad and was amazed at the way Dean broke down the key terms and general information. "And he seems to be catching on to it quickly."

"Wow, who would've thought Dean Ambrose would have the aptitude for psychology?" Brad tossed another throw away comment, finding an interesting little box to examine.

"I guess he's taking this assistant job pretty seriously." Dolph smirked, seeing the sudden glow and pride in Seth's face as he continued to look over Dean's notes.

Little details, ways to relate the ideas to his clients, even some doodles for visual support: Seth nearly squealed with excitement for it all. Maybe because it seemed like Ambrose had abandoned his task of eliminating Regal. Maybe because now they had something they could seriously talk about. Maybe it just meant Dean was becoming more acclimated to being out of the asylum. Either way, he just wanted to _do_ _something_ with the findings. However, there was always the question of whether Ambrose would be angry about him invading his space or not. Maybe he'd play it off and pretend to catch Dean studying. That sounded like a plan.

"Whoops!" Seth and Dolph's eyes' jolted over to Maddox as the man dropped the box. He scrambled to pick it up but Rollins made it over to the spot first. "At least nothing broke."

The doctor couldn't stop the glare he wanted to give, so instead he just scrambled to grab whatever fell. Immediately he was met with a couple dollars, little trinkets, and little faded black journal. Funny, he didn't remember buying that. A diary maybe? Maddox leaned over Rollins shoulder and reached to flip it open only for Rollins to bolt it out of reach. "What are you doing?! We can't look in this!"

"Why not? We don't know what it is."

"And that's the exact reason wh—"

Using the distraction, Ziggler creeped over and swiped the book. Before Seth could try to take it back, Dolph and Brad amusedly ran over to the couch and began reading aloud. "_Dear whoever, I guess._"

"Stop, you idiots!" Vocalizing his dismay, Seth tried desperately to get the book back, climbing all over the couch to do so.

"C'mon, don't you trust him? It's probably just some silly diary. It's not like it'll be plans for a murder." With Brad's joking words, Seth only became more desperate. What if it was Dean's plan to take out Regal? Did he really want the two busybodies to see that? Not only would Ambrose hate him for sneaking around, but he'd end up in a prison cell before he could blink. Even as he scraped for the book, Brad held him at bay while encouraging Dolph to read further.

So the blonde did. "_It's been quite a while since I had one of these but I sometimes I get so scrambled up top and I gotta write stuff down. I've never been the most eloquent but, whatever_." When Seth broke free of Brad, the men jumped up and continued to run around the place, tossing the book from one to another.

"_I'm not going to get into some mush about my feelings or how difficult my life was because who would really care? And besides, that's not why you're reading this._"

Rollins almost had Maddox cornered until he tossed it back to Ziggler, the man retreating under the pool table. Speedily he went through the next few lines. "_I probably should've just used one piece of paper for this. Seems kind of wasteful to use the whole journal but, I guess it's too late to regret that. Besides, I'll probably just doodle in it or something. Anyway, back to why you're reading this._"

Dolph shot from under the spot, feeling the doctor approaching. Maddox followed the two as Ziggler ran into a corner, Brad acting as a barricade between the two. "Read! Read!"

"Put it down!" Seth screeched, trying to claw past Brad.

Ziggler listened to his accomplice instead, speed reading the material seeing as how he didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. "_If you're reading this—it'll probably be you, Sami, since you don't exactly give me a moment of peace. But, if you're reading this boys, I have chosen..._" Ziggler greatly slowed down his reading, all the adrenaline being replaced with a sorrowful chill. "_… to…_" He paused completely, losing the will to even look at the page.

Sensing the hesitation and shift in mood, Seth skeptically looked at the man. "Chosen to what? Dolph? Chosen to what?" The blonde man allowed Maddox a peek at the words, causing a deep uneasy sigh to come from Brad. "Somebody talk to me," Seth growled in growing frustration.

Ziggler shared a sympathetic glance with Maddox before sighing and continuing to read. "_I have chosen to take my life._" The words didn't come out easy, and the tension was at a discomfortingly thick level. From the stupefied look on Seth's face, Dolph wasn't sure if he could continue. He certainly didn't want to anymore. "Should I…?"

Seth snatched the book and plopped down on Dean's bed, leaving Dolph and Brad to stand in the corner. He hunched over the journal, continuing to read it. "_While I'm gone, I want you all to take care of each other. Life's gonna get tough but you're stronger than me, smarter than I ever was. If I could handle it for so long, you'll do even better. Unlike me, each and every one of you have a future ahead of you. Be better than me; don't get trapped with no way out. So boys, until we meet again on the other side of that bridge, stay alive. Sincerely, Mox._"

The silence sat in the air among the three. It seemed the entire house went still at the reading. Seth didn't look up from the book, rereading it and finally closing it only to put his face in his hands. A heavy sigh escaped him, his mind unable to ease itself. It just took him back to when Dean downed all that medication months ago.

That was accidental, but this…a suicide note showed intention. Even if he was unsuccessful in the attempt, Ambrose was still at the point of hopelessness. And without a date it wasn't as though he could pinpoint how long ago this was written. It bothered him as a psychiatrist and a friend to think that the man could possibly still be on that path.

Ugh, and just when things seemed like they were looking up.

He stopped his critical thinking when eagerly Dolph shook him. Ziggler didn't have to say much. He caught on to the situation at hand, hearing footsteps over their head. Quickly he shoved his thoughts away and all three scrambled to get the room back in order, hurrying out of Dean's room altogether.

"Maybe we should get going now," Dolph sighed when they reached the kitchen, Maddox only nodding in agreement. As they sat down at the table to steady their breathing, the source of the footsteps entered the kitchen as well. Strolling in with his workout gear on, Seth's brother threw a peace sign up to the three and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

Randy took a seat next to Seth and ruffled his hair. "Staying out of trouble, kid?" The falsely concerned words alone infuriated Seth, it taking every fiber of his being not to bite Orton's hand since it was in range. Turning to Brad and Dolph, the older man smiled debonairly. "Are you gentlemen staying out of trouble too?" Seth rolled his eyes hard at how easily the words brought pink to his cohorts' cheeks and how dumbly they fumbled for words. Then again, that was his brother; Randy Orton, the charmer.

"Well they were just about to get going," Seth reminded the men but Brad waved his hand away dismissively.

"Or we could stay a little while longer. It's not every day we get to meet a member of your family. This is a treat."

"Oh no, it's my pleasure. I'm always on the move, so I never get to meet Seth's friends." It almost amazed Seth how well the man lied. Orton was shameless but that was what he came to expect of the man. While Randy needlessly grinned and flirted with his two Brad and Dolph, Rollins went upstairs to his office. It would be a senseless battle, Randy had them hook, line, and sinker.

:::

Graves rapped on the office doorframe, getting Ambrose's attention. "Hey Dean, your ride's here. Oh sorry..." Only then did the young man realize, Dean was still in session with one of the girls. "Didn't mean to interrupt, Alexa."

"It's cool, Cor." Bliss turned from her chair and smiled. "We were done anyway. I was just keeping Mr. Ambrose company until he clocked out." She turned back to Dean, the man beginning to rise from his seat. "He looked a little lonely today."

Dean looked like he wanted to snap at the teasing words but instead just shook his head. He was too tired to fight the sweet but feisty girl. "Speaking of," Alexa blinked back at Corey, "you seen Baron?"

"No, he works late tonight." The man added with a soft sigh.

"Bummer." Bliss gave a sigh of her own.

"Yeah, I hope he gets in safe. I swear he's been working too long lately." Corey tried to force a smile to the two. "Alright, well I'm getting dinner. Night, lady and gent." Graves waved his farewells and began his stride away.

"I'll join you in a couple." She called after him.

Dean began to walk Alexa out his office, watching the other man stroll. When Graves was out of earshot, the assistant gave a short laugh. "Well that's good for him, right? Doesn't have to worry about Corbin."

Confused, Bliss turned and stared at Ambrose. "Worry about him?" She knitted her eyebrows.

"Yeah, since Corbin's got some vendetta against him."

Even more confused, Bliss tilted her head. "Vendetta? What do you mean?"

Before Ambrose could try and remedy her inquisition, his phone buzzed to signal an incoming text. Right, Roman. "Hey, gotta go. You get some rest, sweetheart." He quickly waved to the girl and escaped to meet his housemate. Ah, so Roman was in Seth's car today, he noted upon getting outdoors. As he walked out onto the grass towards his ride on the street, he heard someone call out to him.

"Ambrose!" Regal interrupted from behind, jogging gracefully to the younger man. "A moment please!"

On pure instinct, Dean waited for the man. As much as he wanted to keep walking, he didn't. "Sir?" Regal took a minute to catch his breath when he caught up but tried to cover a smile as he did so.

William stood straight up with his good posture and reached in his jacket pocket. "I didn't want to put this in the mail, seeing as how it would arrive a few days late so I figured I would hand deliver it." He slipped his hand out and along with it a short rectangular slip of paper. "I believe you have earned this."

Grabbing the paper casually initially, Ambrose couldn't stop the way his blue eyes widened. It was a paycheck, his first pay check. And for such a size able amount. No way his job paid for this much. People should've been scrambling for the position with this kind of money.

Regal must've seen the shock because he felt the need to explain. "There was a bit of money left over after I did my monthly budget report so I thought maybe you would appreciate it. It wasn't too much but consider it a gift in return for your hard work." Dean flubbed whatever words he wanted to say and Regal shushed him with a laugh. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, dear boy."

With a quaint nod, the Englishman went back into the building.

Dean studied the check a while longer before finally giving in with a smirk. Ah, it was well earned, right? He deserved this. If that sucker wanted to try winning him over like this, then he would milk it for all it was worth. Didn't change the fact that he didn't trust Regal. He'd surely spend the money he received, however.

Glad with the night's outcomes, Dean opened the car door calmly in preparation to greet Roman. He was met, however with a sickeningly pleasantly smirk from Seth's brother. "Hey there, Ambrose." Dean wasted no time in slamming the door closed and proceeding to walk down the street. Randy chuckled, expecting the reaction and he drove up beside the man. "Don't want a ride?" Orton yelled out the window as he rolled it down.

"I'd rather walk." Ambrose grumbled, trying his hardest not to pay attention.

Orton was persistent, "Home is a couple miles away. Even if you jog, you'll take more than an hour."

Dean pulled his phone from his pocket to navigate the GPS app. "I got time." It would've been nice to have remembered the way home but he didn't, and he'd just have to make due. "How'd you get Seth's car?"

"He let me borrow it." Randy rolled in amused silence beside the walking man for a while before chuckling. "I get the feeling you don't like me, kid." Dean's over-exaggerated eyebrow raise gave the 'you think' response and Orton only grinned a bit more. There was something smarmy about the cocksure smile that continually rubbed Ambrose the wrong way. "Let me guess, it's because of Seth?"

"Oh no, I hate you all on my own." Surprisingly, Randy went silent again, thinking maybe. Guess he was changing his tactic.

"Rollins won't like me if I don't get you home."

It was amazing that Orton was still trying to talk to him, but it was even more amazing that Dean continued to entertain him. "C'mon now, Randy. We both know he doesn't like you already."

"Seth doesn't like the things I do," Randy corrected. "And it's a free country; he can have his opinion. Equally, there are some things about my brother that I'm not too fond of." Seeing that Ambrose was still listening, Orton continued.

"I'm a very…_private_ person, Ambrose. I like to keep my business to myself. Seth, on the other hand, is intrusive—for lack of a better word. Always has been. I couldn't leave him in the house alone for a minute before he'd go rummaging through my stuff. Found a way to unlock my door, went through my computer, hacked my cell. It didn't matter how personal it was, he couldn't help but snoop around where he didn't belong." Still the patient didn't verbally respond, but he at least stopped as he reached a corner. Out of his peripheral, Dean glanced at Randy as if giving him a moment more to get to the point. So Randy took it with as much subtlety as he could. "Anything you hide from him, he sniffs out without any regard for privacy." The man in the car kept a straight face throughout his warning, letting the words hang around for a bit. "It's just the way he is."

What was that supposed to mean? Dean wanted to ask. He could feel the air of caution around the words but were they supposed to carry an actual meaning? With a guy like Randy, he couldn't be sure—which was why he usually didn't listen to guys like Randy. Orton was so lucky he wanted to play nice for Seth's sake.

Orton could see the wheels turning in Dean's head and forced a satisfied grin not to creep onto his face. No, not yet, He'd only planted the seed. When the time was right, there would be a celebration. For now, Randy shrugged his shoulders to get Dean back into conversation with him. "If you don't want to ride with me, at least let me call you a taxi."

Before Ambrose could snappily deny the man, headlights came into view from behind them, momentarily blinding before they were powered down. Thank goodness, Dean thought. Any one was better than Orton right now. And much to his reprieve, from the driver's side, out popped Roman who had a confused but relieved look on his face. Cautiously he approached his housemate until he could clearly make out the man in the dark. "Dean?" Reigns smiled as he peeked in the car window and saw the other. "Randy." The Samoan nodded in acknowledgement before turning back to Ambrose. "Why are you walking?"

"Why were you late?" Finding that to be a better question, Dean hoped the answer would put him in a greater mood after having to deal with Orton.

"Paper work." Roman gave a playful smile and held up his hands defensively. "But I texted you that I was running late. You probably just didn't check your phone like always."

"Oh," Now that it was mentioned, he never actually checked the message. Too proud to be bashful, Dean chose to shove Roman in the chest, only bringing a deep chuckle from the other.

Reigns reached up and poked Dean in the forehead, overall pleased just to see his cohort after a long work day. "You're cute when you know you're wrong." He stopped his fawning hearing Randy flipping through some radio stations, and spoke to him once more. "What were you up to, Orton?"

Coolly, almost instantly, Randy's flirty eyes were back as he addressed Roman. "I was heading home too when I spotted Ambrose. Pulled over to give him a ride. I just pulled up here five, ten minutes ago. Never thought I'd run into you." Ambrose opened his mouth to call Orton on his lie but Roman was quicker to respond.

"Well we'll just tail you there. C'mon Dean." Reigns waved slightly before tapping Dean's shoulder and signaling that he follow him to the truck. Giving Randy one last glare, the patient followed.

As they took off, Ambrose looked over to Reigns and remembered his excitement from earlier. Right, he had news. "So guess who's buying the beers this weekend." He smirked, reaching in his pocket to pull the slip of paper he earned.

Boastfully, the patient handed the slip over to the nurse. Switching his view from the road, Roman glanced over it and let out a "woot" of pride, the same smile plastered on his face from when he first saw Dean. "First paycheck! That's awesome man." With the earlier sound not being enough, Reigns took his extra energy and ruffled Dean's hair. "My man, baby. You are doing it. Proving people wrong."

"And I got a bonus," he added. Sure it was a little childish, but Ambrose kinda liked the puffed up feeling Roman was motivating him with. The grin on the larger man only grew wider as he took hold of the other's hand and lightly pecked it. Roman was so keen on the little show of affection.

"I'm proud of you."

Such simple words, really. A light and ordinary phrase but as they left Roman's lips, Dean could feel his belly flitter if only for a second. It was weird. He didn't hate it but it was weird. And it made him smile—not a smirk, but a full on dimpled smile. "Thanks," he mumbled.

It didn't seem that Roman had heard him, the man moving on to speak again. "Seth's gonna be proud too, man."

"You think?" Dean cringed inwardly, sure that the weird feeling would come back if Seth said he was 'proud'. The doctor would probably mock the dumb smile that followed too.

"Oh yeah. You know how he is, he just has to know what's going on with you. I saw some notes he's taken since you've lived with us and yeesh; it's like a book."

And there was the conversation turner. Notes? Dean tilted his head in curiosity, just continuing to listen.

The nurse's next words were serious but bordering on teasing. "I don't know if it's a psychiatrist thing or a Seth thing but he's a pretty curious guy. Goes to great lengths to get his hands on a lot of information."

"Yeah…"

Now Dean was no believer in coincidence but he couldn't deny the connection between Roman's observations and Randy's warning. Okay, so Seth was a little inquisitive. So what? It would've been easy to blow off thinking about it but he could feel that this was going to nag at him already. While Roman was only conversing, Randy had a purpose in his message. Now, what that purpose was, was the more complex question. What was that snake up to?

* * *

Alright guys! This may be the last chapter for a while because school's starting up soon :/ But I'll try to write another chapter before then. Just bear with me, please! I hope everyone is enjoying this so far. Feel free to review if you please. If not, enjoy anyway! ^^


	9. Shutting Out of the Asylum

Shutting Out of the Asylum

* * *

"Hey? Rome?"

He figured Seth would do this: wake him up at an unholy hour with the need to talk. He knew the smaller man went to sleep with a troubled mind. "I'm up," It was a deep tired groan but Reigns sat up. Rollins would get no rest if he didn't address it. "I'm up. What's going on?" He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes but, he was wake enough.

Seth stopped his pacing about the room in favor of sitting at the foot of the bed. "If you know something about somebody that you probably shouldn't know, do you tell them? Or do you ignore it?"

"Are you asking what I would do?" Roman tried to blink some alertness into his mind. "Uh..." He ran his big hand down his face. "Personally, I think I would make sure I have it right before I say anything to them. I'd hate for it to blow up in my face, you know."

"But," Seth had to interject lightly, "what if you can't get it right until they know you know?"

"Then tell them." Reigns carelessly shrugged. He really hoped Seth didn't expect too much more from him. It was way too early in the morning.

Rollins didn't respond for a while, Roman giving in to his drowsiness and rolling back over into his pillow. Seth didn't even try to wake him. He chose to hit the light switch and lay himself down. Maybe he'd sleep on the decision to make: ask Dean about the note, or pretend he never even knew it existed.

:::

"So what do you think about having counseling sessions again?"

Ambrose bit down on his sub and stopped midway. "What?" He eyed Seth apprehensively and matched Roman's curious gaze. What a very odd question to spring around the dinner table.

"I was just thinking..." Almost not wanting to ask again, Seth shrugged and picked with his own sandwich. "You know, with you starting work and all, I just thought it would be a good way to let some steam go. Sitting down and having a session once a week or whatever."

While he normally would've considered the offer, the presentation was subpar. Something nagged at him about what the actual motivation was for the offer—especially with the other man somewhat avoiding eye contact. Seth had been acting kind of off the past few days already so the strange question was only made stranger.

Ambrose gave a skeptical look to Roman, who only shrugged in confusion as well. Guess he wasn't in on the proposal either. "Uh," he started, "I don't know, Seth. Why have a formal session when I can do what I've been doing and just talk to you guys after work?"

"It's not like I'd file them or an—"

"And," Ambrose interrupted, "I'd have to talk about my _feelings_." He rolled his eyes. "And I'm going to hate being forced to talk." The next words were a borderline warning, emphasis being put on 'hate'.

Luckily for Dean, Seth didn't push for confrontation. He just gave a look—sympathetic maybe?—and went back to his dinner. What was that? Before he could possibly probe the information out however, Roman brought up a different, rather mundane topic for the table to discuss.

The strange occurrence only turned out to be the first of many for the following week. Dean would usually catch Seth eyeing him with this weird longing glance, or the young doctor looked to be about to ask something but would instead inwardly sigh. Every time Seth did speak, this goofy forced smile eased its way on the now annoying mug and his words were discomfortingly soft. As a whole it was just unsettling. Being out of the house, Reigns didn't seem to notice any of the funny business.

Randy, on the other hand, wasted no opportunity in giving Dean underhanded words of advice. Always things like, "There's a reason he's acting weird," or "I'd check my privacy if I were you". As much as he wanted to ignore the snake, it became increasingly harder with each little instance from Seth. The validity of the claims were something to consider. I mean, who knew Rollins better than the guy he grew up with, right? Right?

All in all, his home life became a bit maddening so he had much reprieve going to work. No overly-flirtatious and shifty brothers, no overly-concerned stares—just him and the youth that came to like him. Not that their acceptance mattered…much.

Dean couldn't deny that he was a little more than content about being allowed in their circle. Most of the kids were pretty interesting and he could relate to them. Ambrose had no problem giving out the down-to-earth advice the youth couldn't get from a professional like Regal. So he felt like they regarded him highly. It was a big ego trip and maybe the reason he grew to enjoy his job.

Or maybe it was simply that being the head of the pack was nostalgic. He was once a gang leader after all. Heaven forbid he turned the halfway house into a Switchblade reincarnate. He could only imagine William's reaction to that. Surprisingly though, the older doctor probably would leave it at a good reprimanding and leave them to their devices. He was a softie—even if it was an act. Even if he didn't trust the guy.

Everything in Dean wanted to keep saying that as well but lately he wasn't so sure. Regal just seemed so _docile_: hardly ever rattled, always willing to do favors, almost always excited for one accomplishment or another. And, while he didn't want to let his guard down, Ambrose was getting really comfortable with that.

"Ambrose, do you need a ride home since it's early? Mr. Reigns doesn't get off for a couple more hours, correct?"

Always willing to do favors. Dean smirked and closed his last folder for the day. "Yeah." Hmph, he was probably just looking for solace in the wrong place. Sure, he didn't mind blaming it on that. He was just taken in by the ruse is all, nothing else. Grabbing his things and saying his farewells, Dean followed Regal to his car.

It was always a slow cruise with William behind the wheel; he was never in a rush to be anywhere simply because he left places early so he could take his time. Hands on ten and two, seatbelt locked in, and upright position: Regal was always as prim and proper as he could be. "Are you hungry?"

"Nah," Ambrose leaned his seat back and folded his arms behind his head. "I ate a big lunch."

Regal 'tsked' and gave a knowing glance to the younger man. "Rollins may have prepared you a big lunch but you didn't eat it. You gave it to Enzo and Colin during your lunch break."

Not expecting that, Dean tried again to recover. "Seth probably made dinner."

"You said he doesn't start preparing dinner until his last session is complete which won't be for another hour or so. Am I right?" The insightful smirk that came from the man was only met with a brash soft curse from Ambrose, his frustration growing lightly. "Let me buy you something. A sandwich at least."

"No thanks," it was more of a grumble than anything. "I'm not hungry." He scoffed under his breathe. "And how do you know any of that?"

William looked completely clueless. "Know what?"

"You know what I mean. The time Roman gets off, or when Seth cooks, or how much I eat. Stuff like that. You keepin' tabs on me, old man?"

William chuckled then. "No, dear boy." He shrugged a bit and kept his smile. "I just remember them. You may not be one of my clients but I try to remember things you've told me and things I observe from you."

It was funny that Regal didn't seem to actually _remember him_.

"It's not that I'm keeping tabs on you, Ambrose. More so, as my assistant, I want to be able to tell when you aren't normal."

He was never 'normal'.

"Like now. You seem to be troubled lately."

Ah, so this is where the conversation was heading. Ambrose did his best not to let on that he was in fact troubled, instead forcing his body to relax more in the passenger seat. "What makes you say that?"

Sensing the barrier about to come up, William eased away from his original approach. "Just an old man's hunch." Regal chuckled, using Dean's earlier words. "I could always be wrong. But…" The car came to a stop and Ambrose realized where they were. Home already, huh? Dean sat his seat up and opened the door, about to step out when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to Regal, he actually met the pale blue eyes. He met the genuine tenderness. He met the overbearing level of concern. Not the pitying sympathy Seth's came to adopt but honest regard for his wellbeing. It was a look that was hard to fake. "Just like the young ladies and gentlemen at the house, you've become family to me. I consider you like a son, Ambrose. If there is ever anything you need, know that you can come to me." With a smile too sweet for words, Regal ruffled Dean's hair and allowed him to leave the car. Giving a final wave, he cruised off down the street.

He was stuck. Didn't move from the curb, just stood there thinking.

Did…what was that? And what was the weird feeling in his chest? Was he actually _happy_ about the words? No, he couldn't be. He absolutely couldn't be. He didn't need Regal's comfort and it surely didn't want his concern. Ugh, maybe he was just getting pulled in too deep in his job. It was making him lose focus of why he even took the job. William was making it real hard to even want to kill him.

Dean was so internally confused, he didn't even notice the other car quickly coming to a halt until the man driving hopped out and approached. "Yo, Ambrose." It took Dean a moment to register the presence until a manila envelope was hastily placed in his hands. "Roman asked me to get this stuff for him a little while ago. Could you make sure you get it to him."

He didn't even get to greet Punk correctly, the man seeming to be in a rush. The lawyer was already nearly back to his car. "What's this?" Dean called.

"Just some information. Hey, make sure Seth doesn't get to it." Punk jumped his ride and rolled down his window, giving an "It was nice seeing you again by the way," before taking off.

It was weird how the man flew through but he chalked it up to lawyer stuff. They were always on the move in the TV shows. Satisfied with his own explanation that left Dean to focus on the other curious matter. What could possibly be in the thick envelope? All he knew was it was information Roman wanted and information Seth wasn't supposed to know about. Considering, he had free reign to allow his imagination to wonder.

Just as he went to open it, he heard his name being called from the house. From the front door, Seth gave a wave and Dean returned it halfheartedly, remembering why he didn't want to be home. Seeing Seth disappear from the doorway, Ambrose went back to scanning the package in his hands. Guess he'd have to wait to see what was inside. Maybe after dinner.

:::

Dean sat on his bed, lounging back against the pillows as he read through and annotated some of the information in Seth's psychology books. It was funny yet amazing to think that the man hadn't noticed their disappearance yet. What's more, Ambrose amazed himself. Never would he have guessed he'd have the capacity to understand this type of information on his own. Impaired by the mind-numbing monotony of the asylum as well as the daily dosage of medication, he had been so long without concrete knowledge. There was a slight thirst. And besides that, it just interested him. Being able to understand and put name to the behavior he often observed was a bit liberating. He could understand why Rollins enjoyed his work.

Dean put the book down and sat up. Thinking of the doctor brought him back to a certain envelope. Since he brought it in the house it stayed on his nightstand. He'd glanced at it numerous times but refrained from touching it. He tried to convince himself he wasn't interested in it but that was useless. It only made him more curious of the contents. What could it possibly be? What?

Ambrose stopped his staring as he heard footsteps begin to climb down his stairs. Swiftly he placed the envelope under his books and lied back to feign relaxation, closing his eyes and humming.

There was a deep rumble of a chuckle as his bed dipped. "It's just like you to eat and go to sleep."

The patient only groaned, putting a sneer on his face. "You're interrupting said sleep." He lifted his arms to fold them behind his head and snuggle deeper into his bed. "So get lost, will you?"

Roman gave another chuckle and shoved Ambrose over, scooting up beside him to mimic the earlier position. He let out a sigh as he rested his head in his hands. "This bed is great."

"Excuse you." Dean used his knee to try and shove the other away but Reigns let out another sigh and planted himself deeper into the comfy bed. Seeing that his method wasn't working, Ambrose sat up and used his hands to push the man. "You can't just invite yourself into people's beds!"

"But I'm tired," the larger man whined playfully, doing his best to be unmoved by Dean.

Finally giving in due to Reigns not moving, the patient groaned and went back to lounging. "Geez, you act like a punk sometimes!" He barked, very little malice behind the words. In fact, he didn't even mind at all—and he knew Roman knew.

Reigns only chuckled some more, sitting up and patting Dean's stomach. "You babysit punks all day. You should be used to it." He looked over the books on the bed impressively, opening one with dozens of sticky notes hanging out. "Wow." He flipped through more pages, intrigued by the material. "This is some complex stuff." Ambrose only smirked, pursing his lips to say something snappy until Roman commented. "Seth said you were hitting the books hard."

All thoughts of a remark left Dean, the patient tilting his head in thought. How did Seth know? He stopped himself from thinking too hard. Maybe the doctor just so happen to notice their absence and surmise that the books were in Ambrose's possession. Yeah…that had to be it. Attempting to change the subject, Ambrose closed the book. "What are you even doing down here? Shouldn't you be somewhere turning pink under Randy's arm or something?"

"Ouch," Reigns mocked hurt, moving a hand down to his chest. "At least Randy compliments me," he teased. Roman reached a hand over and pinched Dean's cheek hard, smiling deviously. "Don't tell me you're jealous." Ambrose scoffed and smacked the hand away, favoring it for punching Roman in the chest. Reigns caught the fist before it could retreat, bringing the knuckles up to kiss them lightly. "You don't have to be."

"It's not me you should worry about." Dean rolled his eyes and snatched his hand away, channeling the feelings from his other housemate. "Seth's the one with the little green-eyed monster."

"Really now?" Roman grinned a little wider, the information stirring something in his mind. "He told you that?"

Ambrose plucked the other man on the forehead, scolding him. "Yeah and that's not something to be smiling about."

"But that means he's jealous," Roman sounded too happy for what he was saying. "And that means he'll get angry soon." Dean's face showed that he couldn't understand why Roman wanted that so the man went on. "Look Dean, I really want him to open up more. He's already been jealous with Sandow over you. That's why he wrecked his office." Oh yeah. Ambrose honestly blocked out a lot of his past in the asylum. Purposely. "And I don't know…" Almost embarrassedly, Reigns rubbed his neck. "It's just refreshing that he's jealous over me."

Geez, could Roman be any more of a teddy bear right now? "Idiot." Dean let the word out with a sigh, shoving the other man a little. "You two really need to talk some things out. Communication. And you better hope that jealousy thing doesn't backfire."

"Thank you, _Dr. Ambrose_." The mocking tone was more teasing than anything as Roman rolled off Dean's bed. "Should I take two and call you in the morning?" A pillow being launched at him was dismissal enough for larger man, Roman blowing a kiss to Ambrose and retreating to bed.

Dean went to continue his note taking and noticed the envelope. Man, still forgot to give Roman the package. He contemplated calling the other back down but instead voted against it. He'd just give it to him in the morning. Because if he held it any longer, he may have been tempted to read the thing—just as he was now.

:::

The next day was a bit hectic, all the men having woken up late and rushed to prepare. At each of their respective jobs, there was a stressful situation. The end result: a trio of frustrated men. And sensing that, Randy knew there was only so much he needed to do. So he waited for his best moment, when all the men were tiredly sitting around in the kitchen to decide dinner among their venting of the days issues.

From the other room, the snake overheard enough to surmise the happenings. Ambrose apparently had a file he stolen from his office and he had to run around interrogating everyone, which in turn made all his subsequent appointments run late—many of the youth canceling in response to his tardiness. Then he had to listen to a long spiel from Regal about the importance of punctuality.

Seth had a slightly different situation, the higher ups calling for an impromptu inspection of his office as well as an evaluation of a few patients he cared for. And with his late start on the day, he scrambled for preparation in both endeavors. Lastly, Randy was able to hear Reigns' plight: the man gained two new patients to add to his already full list. He was merely the interim nurse but that didn't mean he could slack on their extensive paperwork of medication—which only would become more tiresome since his cousins were going to a weeklong workshop.

For all three, everything seemed to have been going wrong. And their bad mood was exactly what Orton wanted.

"What about a pasta salad?" Rollins asked with a sigh of exhaustion.

Rollins' string of bad suggestions seemed to have put even Roman a bit closer to the edge, but Dean was first to snap. He slammed his hands down on the table earning a groan from Reigns. "I need meat, Seth! I don't care how you prepare it, but I need meat!"

"Hey! Don't raise your voice at me!" The doctor yelled in irritation. "At least I'm trying to figure out something! You two jus—"

"I'm not in this." Roman interrupted, massaging his temple deeply in his hands. "I could go to sleep without eating honestly."

"Then why didn't you?" Seth rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath. He was so close to just flipping the bird to both his comrades and turning in.

Then Randy came barging in and he immediately turned on his heel to run. However, his brother was ever quicker, grabbing Seth by the shoulders. "Rough day?" Knowing he wasn't going to get an answer, Orton chose to massage the younger man's shoulders. "You look wore out."

He also knew his hands would get slapped away by the fiery youth. "Would you just stop?! Don't touch me!"

"Don't yell!" Roman growled through clenched shut eyes, the man gripping painfully at the top of his head.

Randy moved from Seth over to Roman. A soothing hand came up the big man's back. "You must've had one of those days too, huh?" All he got was a sigh from Reigns, Randy taking it upon himself to settle in a seat beside Roman.

That didn't sit well with Rollins, the doctor manually pulling Orton's seat away from Roman. He crouched in his face and stuck an accusatory finger. "You stay away from him because I'm not in the mood and—you know what?" He broke his own train of speech, jumping to annoyance again. "I'm sick of this buddy-buddy crap between you two, okay? So I'm not asking, I'm telling." He directed the finger towards the Samoan in warning. "You stay away from my brother."

The outrage spread from Roman to Dean instantly, both of them looking at one another in shock to the demand. In fact, before Rollins could turn back to scolding Orton, Roman stood up and snatched the man around by his shirt collar. "Who do you think you're talking to?!"

"Get your hands off me!" Seth hissed as he broke free. "And I'm talking to you! Randy comes and starts drooling over you, and you don't even have the brains to realize it!" He plucked Roman upside his head as he went on. "So I'm spelling it out for you. Really _slow_ and really, really, _loud_!" Seth purposely shouted to aggravate the headache Reigns nursed, only for Roman to advance on him with malice in his eyes.

Luckily Ambrose stepped in between them with a Chinese food carryout menu in his hands. He sat it gently against Reigns' chest and pointed a finger of his own at Seth. "You made your point. It's over. Get the food ordered." With that settled, he moved to sit back down.

Seth gritted his teeth with refusal to pull out his phone. "You order it."

"Seth, I'm really not in the mood to listen to you whine and tell me what to do." It was a nonchalant answer to go with his less than spunky demeanor.

"And that's your problem, Ambrose." Rollins complained as he huffily gave in to the demand. "You never want to listen to what I tell you to do. But you'll listen to _Roman_ just fine, won't you?" He spoke as if the name itself was distasteful as he pulled out his phone.

Dean was unnerved by the attitude, leaning back coolly in his chair. "I sure will. Because he says upfront what he means, why I should listen, and what he wants out of me." Ambrose leaned back up, calm anger and skepticism bubbling up inside him. "You on the other hand, hide a lot from me. I can't get you to tell me how I got that job, you won't tell me why you insist I have personal counseling sessions, you—"

"You didn't tell him what you found in his room either?" Randy's question was well-performed with amazing synthetic concern. But underneath, Seth could see the glints of malevolence that the cunning snake foresaw with his inquiry. Rollins cut his eyes at the older man, prepared to shut him up until he heard the legs of the chair slam against the hardwood floor.

"When were you in my room?"

Before he even turned around, Seth could feel the slow burn starting to peak. He could almost see the darkened features that were going to greet him when he finally turned. A soft curse and Rollins turned with pseudo irritation, unwilling to show how much he was beginning to sweat bullets. "It's my house."

This time it was Roman keeping the peace, having to jump up and throw himself between Seth and Dean. Ambrose strained to reach his hand far enough past the Samoan to maul the doctor. Roman was finally able to push the man back and Dean wasted no time in yelling. All the weird looks, Randy's words, everything just started to have a different negative light. "Why were you in my house, Rollins?!"

"Hey!" Seth's own shouting gave away his nervousness, his voice changing pitch a bit. "It's not like I wanted to go down there! I was forced to, okay!?" He moved back slightly, just in case Reigns' defense wasn't as impenetrable as once believed. "And it's a good thing I did, or I never would've seen that stupid note!" Ambrose slowed his rampaging to a halt, tilting his head in confusion. Sensing the puzzlement, Seth clarified. A certain hint of sympathy laced the words. "The one in your black journal. That suicide note."

Roman's eyes opened wide as he looked from Seth to Dean. Ambrose felt the apprehension that Reigns emitted but he ignored it to try and pin point what exactly Seth was talking about. Then it hit him, and he couldn't help the condescending laugh that he let out. "You idiot! That's not a suicide note! It's coded!" Seth's own stupefaction grew with the cackle, the doctor scratching his head. "Cryptography. Hidden messages. That type of thing." Ambrose smirked smartly at Rollins' obvious embarrassment and went to advance on him again. "And I bet that's why you've been acting so weird lately." The guilt written on Seth's face only proved to set the anger back alight. Dean shoved past Roman and poked his own finger in Seth's chest. "And that's what happens when you're always sticking your big nose where it doesn't belong!"

"But I just—" The retort came out weak, Rollins being far too abashed to be upset with the scolding.

"You know, your brother—for as much as it pains me to say it—was right. You're always digging around in someone else's trash can and never want to tell anyone what you're up to! That's why we don't get along, Seth! That's why I don't trust you!" The words sat in the air, nothing but silence between them all. Dean didn't know why he kept going, the defeated look in Rollins' eyes spurring him on. "Geez, Seth. Roman doesn't even trust you!" Both the doctor and nurse were even more alert, giving one another surprised glances. Ambrose nodded his head, "He won't say it because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings but he doesn't trust you. That's why he got that lawyer Punk to not only dig up some dirt on you, but actually _tail you_ for weeks!"

Only briefly did Ambrose get a glance at the shock on Seth's face before he was spun around and met with seething grey eyes. Roman's furious vice grip nearly choked him. He'd never seen the man this enraged before. It was actually really, _really terrifying_. Ambrose swallowed hard and opened his mouth to stutter but Seth's words came out first.

"You didn't, did you?" He sounded so hurt, so wounded. He wanted a reason to believe Dean was making it all up but when Roman avoided eye contact with him completely, the rage exploded out of his pores. "You have got to be kidding me!" He threw his hands up in the air irritably. "I thought we were over this!"

"We are!" Reigns corrected, tossing Dean aside to try and comfort his now furious boyfriend. "I asked him to get the stuff before then! Then I changed my mind and asked him to stop…or I meant to at least." the big man mumbled under his breath. He directed his words back to Ambrose. "It's not like I read any of it thought. I didn't even know Dean had the envelope."

Rollins pinched the bridge of his nose irritably and let out a feral groan. "You have to be the biggest, most insecure idiot I've ever seen! I don't understand how someone so smart is always doing something so moronic!"

All pretense of soothing the younger man were gone now, Reigns turning back to outrage. "You know, it bothers me that a grown man has to resort to name calling like he's some fifth grader." He seethed. "Secondly, Dean's right. I don't trust you but it's not like you ever give me any reason to."

Seth snapped, "How about the fact that I'm your boy—"

"You don't put any effort into our relationship, so don't go there, _boyfriend_." Roman interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. "Like I said, I don't trust you, and I don't trust him." He pointed back to Ambrose, ignoring the shocked look from the patient. "I'm an open book. I don't hide anything. I go to work, come home, sleep, wake up, and do it all over. There is nothing that I don't tell either of you. Nothing. But for me, it's like pulling teeth just to get a genuine thought or feeling out of you two."

Again, the men all quieted down, taking in everything that was said between one another. So much unwanted tension, such a heavy atmosphere.

Sensing that no one wanted to make the next remark, Roman sighed, his tired state taking over. "For every step we take forward, we end up taking three steps back. And I don't know how much longer I can live like this."

"Then don't." Both men turned to Rollins.

"What?" Reigns asked. A very distant look in his burning chocolate eyes, Seth kept his eyes lowered. He looked to be thinking, deciding on something. "Seth, what did y—"

Rollins roared in reply, "Just leave!" Absolutely livid, Seth threw his hands in the air with exasperation. "If it's so obvious that we aren't going to work out, the door is right where it's always been! I don't want you or Ambrose in my house so just go away!"

"Whatever, brat." Not one to be outdone, Ambrose pushed pass Seth with his own angered snarl.

He motioned behind him for Roman to come along but Reigns stormed pass them both, grabbing his jacket and keys. Ambrose gave Seth one last dirty look before following suit. He'd barely made it to the front door by the time Roman had sped off down the road. Now even more upset, Dean cursed the air and kicked the door before darting out of it himself. Looks like he'd be walking.

Having sat through the entire ordeal, Randy couldn't keep the self-satisfied grin off his face. Wow, and here he thought it would take so much more to make the three snap. Must've been unstable to begin with. Orton could only give himself a big pat on the back; the entire thing went better than perfect.

The older man stood into a deep stretch. That Ambrose had a pretty good idea; carryout sounded particularly tasty. As he turned to walk out the kitchen, only then did he hear a sound that was harmonized music to his ears. Was that…sniffling he heard? He knowingly walked behind his stiff brother and smirked harder. Yes, those were the sniffles of a broken man.

Mockingly the snake of a man placed a hand on Seth's shoulder. He leaned in close to Seth's ear, euphoric to feel the younger man jolt at the closeness. "Rough day? You look a little wore out." The insulting laugh that followed the mirrored words was the last straw, Rollins taking his keys and jumping straight in his car.

His house was the very last place he wanted to be.

:::

"Regal." Baron rapped against the doorframe of the man who should've headed home hours ago. "Someone here to see you."

William curiously looked up from over the rim of his glasses, waving for Baron to allow the guest in. Regal went back to reading page he was on, talking as he heard the person arrive. It was a weary but lighthearted laugh that came out. "Normally I wouldn't still be around so consider this a lucky day for you." He offered a smile but it immediately dropped when he noticed who his guest was. "Dear boy, what ha—"

"Just…" Ambrose didn't try to explain. He knew he looked a mess, mostly due to the unexpected downpour that started as soon as he left the house. To make matters worse, he got lost, his phone died, and he got chased by some dogs. But luckily, his feet lead him here. With a sigh, he shook his head at his boss. "You got a room for me?"

The older gentleman didn't even flinch, picking up the phone and dialing. He kept focused eyes on Dean until he received an answer. "Hello? Please forgive the hour, but I just have a question. Your bottom bunk is empty, correct?" There was a pause and a nod from William. "Excellent. Well I'm sending you a roommate so please make him feel welcome." The manager hung up quickly and reached around in his desk drawer, pulling out a key and handing it to Dean. "Straight down the hall." Dean agreed and did his best to pull his sore body from the chair, Regal calling to him one last time. "Please do get some rest, Dean."

And he wanted nothing more in that moment. Ambrose dragged himself down the hall and to the door, leaning against it. He could've collapsed right then but pushed himself to open the door. The man only hoped that his roommate for the night wasn't one of the loud mouths of the house.

"Mox? What are you doing here?"

The voice brought the first smile of the day to Dean's face. "I just thought I'd sleep somewhere where I'm wanted, Sami. That's all."

* * *

I did it! Another chapter out before school starts! ^^ Woo woo woo!

Thanks for the lovely reviews and thanks for just continuing to read! I hope you enjoyed the story thus far :3 So until next time!


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